Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones – a drama about censorship, book banning and Civil Rights – opens during Banned Books Week on Let Freedom Read Day, Saturday, September 28.
Let Freedom Read Day is a day of action with a call for everyone who stands against book banning to take at least one action to help defend books from censorship. Ghostlight is proud to stand up for the library staff, educators, writers, publishers and booksellers who make books available to all. Learn more about Banned Books week (September 22-28) and Let Freedom Read Day at https://bannedbooksweek.org/let-freedom-read-day.
Alabama Story is a fictional play based on very real events that took place in 1950s Alabama when a children’s book called The Rabbits’ Wedding by illustrator Garth Williams (known for his work on Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little and Little House on the Prairie) was released. The book tells of two little rabbits – one white, one black – who decide to get married. Though not intended to be political, the book caused a firestorm in the Segregationist South with calls to ban and even burn the book.
The play, set in 1959 Montgomery, Alabama, is the story of a segregationist senator (the fictional-characterization-based-on-a-real-person, Sen. E.W. Higgins) and the state librarian (based on a very real Emily Wheelock Reed) who clash over the content of a children’s book about bunny rabbits. The play contrasts that story with a reunion of childhood friends — a Black man and a woman of white privilege — providing a private counterpoint to the public events swirling in the state capital.
Alabama Story is set within the framework of 1950s racial tensions that parallels the issues facing America today as book bans and book challenges overwhelm libraries and schools across the nation.
The immersive show also marks the company’s return to mainstage productions since the global COVID-19 Pandemic brought arts organizations and productions around the world to a halt in 2020.
“We have an amazing project and the cast is truly fantastic,” Director Holly Robison said. “I cannot wait for audiences to see the excellent performances that are sure to elevate an already meaty, timely script,”
The cast includes two Ensemble Members, Co-Artistic Director Justin Broom as Thomas Franklin and Maria Burnham as Emily Wheelock Reed. Rounding out the cast is Scott Olson as Garth Williams, Tom Goodwin as Sen. E.W. Higgins, Khnemu Menu-Ra as Joshua Moore and Haley Basil as Lily Whitfield. Understudies include Adrian Campbell, Mary Jordan, Allison McCorkle and Derek Preston Ray. Ensemble Member and Co-Artistic Director Holly Robison directs. (Bios available at www.ghostlightensemble.com/alabama-story-bios.)
The production takes place at two site-specific, book-centric locations: After-Words Bookstore (23 E. Illinois St., Chicago) and Haymarket Books at Haymarket House (800 W Buena Ave, Chicago). There is a preview performance on Friday, September 27 at After-Words Bookstore, followed by performances on Sept. 28-29 and Oct. 4-6, 2024. Performances at Haymarket Books are Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 18-20. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.
Tickets are pay-what-you-will, with an average donation of $25, and are available at https://ghostlightensembletheatreco.thundertix.com/. More information about the show can be found at https://www.ghostlightensemble.com/alabama-story.
Ghostlight Ensemble acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Alabama Story is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection.