BPF will open its Season 44 performance schedule with a staged reading of Mrs. Richardson by playwright Peter Levy.
Directed by James A. Brown, Mrs. Richardson relates the story of Gloria Richardson, who in a span of a few years in the early 1960s, emerged as one of the most significant, though too often overlooked, civil rights activists in America. As the leader of the civil rights movement in Cambridge, Maryland, she wrestled with many of the key questions that arose in movement circles, questions that remain pertinent today. Such as, should activists accommodate moderates? What were the limits of nonviolence in a world where Black folk routinely faced state-sanctioned violence? And what would it take to win full citizenship, rather than token victories?
The cast includes:
Sharon C. Brown – Gloria Richardson
Tony Colavito – Judge Henry
Michael Changwe – Reginald Robinson / Malcolm X
Cameron Dashiell – Enez Grubb
Gordon Parks – Charles Cornish / Frank Dandridge
Felicia Chapple will stage manage the reading.
The performance will be generously hosted at the Eubie Blake National Jazz and Cultural Center, 847 N. Howard St, Baltimore, MD 21201 on Saturday, March 15 at 11 a.m.
A discussion will follow the reading and all audience members are invited to participate.
As always, BPF staged reading performances are free and we encourage everyone to attend and bring a friend to view the first of eleven staged readings that will take place during the BPF’s Season 44.