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Comprised of Black and white people intermixed, Jiréh Breon Holder THE TIMELINE: the joined together on buses travel- is an award-winning THE CIVIL RIGHTS ing across state lines into deeply segregated states playwright who grew MOVEMENT 1954-1965 where national desegregation laws were being vio- up in Memphis, Ten- 1954 Brown v. Board of Education lated not only by emboldened groups of citizens, but nessee. As an only is decided by the U.S. Supreme Dear Friends, even by renegade local officers working in tandem child, he occupied Jiréh Breon Holder. Court, officially ending segregation Welcome to the Chicago premiere with violent obstructionists. himself with his imagination in public schools as enforced by law. of Too Heavy for Your Pocket by Jiréh The cost to the Freedom Riders was immense and the family dog. He’d sneak Toni Morrison In the decision, the Court rules that Breon Holder, directed by TimeLine —they faced imprisonment, vicious brutality, and and Alice Walker books off his mother’s book- “” cannot be upheld A MESSAGE A Company Member Ron OJ Parson. even firebombing. shelf. It was through these texts that Holder was if the other services are not equal, inspired to write his own. overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson A 2016 graduate of Yale’s acclaimed There are countless stories to tell about those verdict of 1896. Yet many schools He attended Morehouse College, a historically playwriting program, Jiréh has who put their lives on the line, and the pages of remain segregated. quickly earned acclaim, writing with a this Backstory provide further exploration of the black college in , where he received August 27, 1955 At just 14 years poignant, contemporary voice, while costs paid. his BA degree in Theatre. From 2012 to 2013, THE PLAYWRIGHT THE Holder served as the Kenny Leon Fellow at old, while visiting family in , also garnering comparisons to some Jiréh’s eloquent play is not only an homage to activ- Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, a Tony Award-winning Chicago-born is accused of the greats that preceded him. ism in 1961 but also a stark reminder of all that has of whistling at a white woman, institution. In 2016, he received his MFA degree Set in , 1961, Too and hasn’t changed in 2019. Carolyn Bryant Donham. As a result, in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama. Heavy for Your Pocket is a story Today, as activism, for many, is exhibited predomi- relatives of Ms. Donham kidnap Till with tremendous heart, moments nantly online, one can’t help but see the contrasts There, Holder developed his play, Too Heavy for from his uncle’s house and torture of great joy, luminous musicality, between what might be perceived as risky today, Your Pocket. He was inspired by the resurgence him extensively, then shoot and kill and infectious laughter, despite a compared with the peril faced by a crusader like in -era films like The him before throwing his body in the backdrop of a country in turmoil. Butler and Selma. But he took issue with some Tallahatchie River tied to a cotton gin

FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR POWERS PJ Bowzie and his fellow Freedom Riders. of the portrayals of legacy, and engaged his fan. Mamie Till, Emmett’s mother, We’re introduced to two young When I first mentioned this play to my ever-inspiring grandmother on her personal recollections, bravely decides to have an open couples striving to build their future colleague, Ron OJ Parson, I was blown away by his TOO HEAVY TOO FOR YOUR POCKET as she had grown up in Nashville around the casket funeral to show the world against considerable, systemic odds. immediate enthusiasm. He said, “That is the story Freedom Rides. She recalled a friend who had what has been done to her son. This When the character Bowzie has the of my cousin! He sacrificed finishing his college thrown away his education to “hop on a bus,” case will galvanize the Civil Rights opportunity to realize his full potential degree so he could be on those buses.” Ron’s and Holder was immediately taken with a topic movement, with widespread coverage with a college scholarship, it seems passion and investment in this story was clear from that history remembers differently. During his in Black outlets such as Jet magazine. as if a tide is turning in his life and his day one, and the interview on page 9 explores that. research, Holder went on a tour December 1, 1955 In Montgomery, community, opening a door for a new We couldn’t be happier to have him at the helm of and spent weeks immersed in 1961 Nashville. , sits in the front generation of leadership and hope. this production. of a segregated bus and refuses to But despite the Supreme Court In 2017, Too Heavy for Your Pocket was the give up her seat to a white passenger, We’re delighted to introduce Jiréh’s immense talent recipient of the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation

outlawing segregation in restaurants, AND HOLDER BREON JIRÉH beginning the to Chicago and to share this story about taking a Award and winner of the Alliance/Kendeda restrooms, public areas, and on stand. Getting off the sidelines. Acknowledging your that will last a year. buses, those long overdue advances National Graduate Playwriting Competition. The privileges. And being an active ally for change. play premiered at the Alliance Theatre and had February 14, 1957 The Southern commonly go unenforced, and in Christian Leadership Conference Through Bowzie, Jiréh poses the question—“What an extended Off-Broadway run at Roundabout many areas of the South they are (SCLC) is founded by Dr. Martin are you willing to risk to fight for what you believe?” Theatre. Its West Coast premiere took place boldly and hostilely defied. Luther King, Jr. (who becomes the I thank you for joining us to examine that question in February and 2019 at Sacred Fools Enter the Freedom Riders, a group organization’s first president), Charles and to experience Too Heavy for Your Pocket. Theatre Company in . of civil rights activists who catch the K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth. attention of the nation and inspire Best, Holder is currently under commission with The SCLC will prove to be an essential Bowzie to question whether a crusade the Old Globe Theatre, Roundabout Theatre, leader in the style of nonviolent for equality is more urgent than his and the Manhattan Theatre Club. His other protest for which Dr. King becomes renowned. personal pursuit of a higher education. plays include The Rules, The Dancing Granny, and Some Bodies Travel.

Although the 1946 U.S. Supreme Oppression of Black people has taken 1957 Nine Black students attempt Court decision in Morgan v. many forms in America, but one of the most to integrate Central High School in ruled segregated bus seating uncon- effective societal manipulations has been the Little Rock, Arkansas, and are forcibly stitutional, most public spaces and education system. prevented from doing so. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends in Federal facilities continued to be divided Enslaved people were forcibly prevented from troops to assist the students—who by race. Though the federal law learning how to read, but often did so in secret. will become known as the “Little Rock favored integration, racism and In the beginning, the Church of England and deep biases held more weight in a Nine”—though the assistance does Students led the Nashville Freedom Riders, specifically C.T. Quakers would build schools for the purpose not end their harassment. society built on the backs of Black Vivian (left) and (center). (Tennessean) of religious conversion specifically for enslaved folks and other people of color. people. Around the 1800s, education for September 9, 1957 President THE ACTION THE Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act

The Journey of Reconciliation, In May of 1961, seven Black and six white people HISTORY THE enslaved people was severely restricted in many of 1957, designed to help protect voter traveled on a Greyhound bus from Washington, states because slave owners were growing viewed as an early inspiration of the rights. It establishes a Civil Rights anxious that those they had enslaved might get Freedom Rides, was assembled by D.C., with the hope of reaching , Section of the U.S. Justice Department the organization Congress of Racial Louisiana, in time for the seventh anniversary ideas about freedom, especially following the and gives legal grounds to file an Equality (CORE, founded at the of Brown v. Board of Education. They traveled Gabriel Conspiracy of 1800 and Nat Turner’s injunction if anyone tries to interfere University of Chicago) in 1947. This mostly undisturbed through Virginia and North Rebellion in 1831. with people's right to vote. FREEDOM RIDES nonviolent challenged Carolina, but violence struck in the way of vicious Nat Turner was a literate enslaved preacher who 1958 The Nashville Christian state segregation laws. Sixteen men, attacks in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Freedom led a rebellion during which 55-65 white people Leadership Conference, an affiliate Riders split up, with one group continuing on the eight white, eight Black, rode public were murdered. As a result, laws governing the of Dr. King’s Southern Christian transportation in Virginia, North Greyhound and the other in a Trailways vehicle. education and freedoms of enslaved people Leadership Conference, is established Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, Mere days later, the Freedom Riders in the Grey- became incredibly strict up until the Civil War. in Nashville, Tennessee. Led by

keeping to the upper South where AMERICA IN BLACK EDUCATION hound arrived in Anniston, Alabama, but the bus A common misconception of American Slavery Reverend , they begin risk of violence was slightly less. driver was unable to enter the station as a mob is that every Black person was enslaved until holding workshops for non-violent Riders suffered arrests, and most of almost 200 white people surrounded the bus. Emancipation in 1865, when in reality there were protest training. These trainings are served jail time, but they made it out The mob then followed the bus in cars, unrelent- many free people before slavery ended, and intended to prepare protestors— with their lives. ing in their hate and seeking to do harm. When many people who remained enslaved well after predominantly students and church groups—for the abuses they will Decades later in 1961, CORE revital- the Greyhound tires blew out, someone threw a the end of slavery into the turn of the century. ized their direct action with the bomb into the bus. Freedom Riders were able to face from racists as they attempted Due to segregation, freed slaves were left to Freedom Rides. They sought to test evacuate as the bus burst into flames but were to desegregate the South. Starting in find their own means of education, as they tried 1959, they will begin their efforts to the new 1960 Supreme Court case met with brutal beatings by the surrounding mob. to create opportunity at a time when almost desegregate downtown Nashville. Boynton v. Virginia, which ruled that Their Freedom Rider counterparts traveling in Discovery of Nat Turner, wood engraving by Benjamin February 1, 1960 One of the most the segregation of interstate trans- the Trailways vehicle met a similar fate when portation facilities was also uncon- Phillps 1831. iconic sit-ins in American history they reached Birmingham, Alabama. This mob occurs when four stitutional. In this second round of brandished metal pipes, and even though the rides, women were included. Agricultural and Technical College Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner knew students sit at a lunch counter in Along the Freedom Rides, partici- violence awaited the Freedom Riders, he invoked Greensboro, North Carolina, and pants attempted to use whites-only no protection, since it was Mother’s Day. demand to be served. spaces and facilities, including rest- Following this widespread violence, CORE Racial violence reaches a pinnacle rooms, waiting rooms, and lunch struggled to enlist bus drivers willing to transport in Nashville in response to the sit-ins, counters. Though the original group integrated groups. Though this organization leading to the bombing of Z. Alexander of Freedom Riders was made up of abandoned their Freedom Rides, activist groups Loobey’s house, an attorney for the 13 members, they inspired others and students from Nashville, Tennessee, carried demonstrators. In response, protestors across the country to take up the on the legacy with rides of their own. march to Nashville City Hall where journey when they no longer could Fisk University leader Diane Nash due to unprecedented violence. The pursuit of African American 90 percent of enslaved people were Too Heavy for your Pocket follows the story of convinces Mayor Ben West that illiterate. Luckily, they found a network education in America and its direct Bowzie Brandon in Nashville, Tennessee, as lunch counters in Nashville should be of free Black people who had been correlation to freedom and breaking he decides whether to fight for civil rights or desegregated. establishing institutions and other the sometimes literal chains of to invest in his own education. This is a ques- May 10, 1960 Nashville becomes means of education that could take oppression cannot be overstated. tion many students of the late 1950s and early the first major city to begin the the lead. ’60s were required to ask themselves, and the desegregation of its public facilities. The Freedmen’s Bureau was formed Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1865, and it is also the majority of were run by 1961 Student volunteers begin in 1865 to support formerly enslaved first HBCU in to be established in the South. student groups. These groups often collabo- taking Freedom Rides through the African Americans, and the nation’s In addition to HBCUs, African American intellectu- rated with the leaders of the movements, who South. These trips, sponsored by first high school for free Black people als pursued and achieved educations at some of were almost exclusively faith leaders. The the Congress for in Washington, D.C., Paul Laurence America’s finest schools. John Hope, political activ- presence of faith in the Civil Rights Movement (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Dunbar High, was founded in 1870. ist and first Black president of Morehouse College cannot be overstated, with groups such as Coordinating Committee (SNCC), are According to a report by journalist (another HBCU), graduated from the preparatory the Southern Christian Leadership Confer- meant to test new laws that have Alison Stewart on National Public academy Worcester Academy in 1890, and enrolled MOVEMENT THE ence and the Nashville Christian Leadership desegregated interstate travel facilities. Radio, some notable alumni of this at Brown University in 1890. W.E.B. DuBois Conference leading both the philosophy of the Freedom Riders are attacked by angry school include “the architect of school enrolled at Harvard in 1888 and would receive BA, protests and on-the-ground organizing. mobs along the way and sometimes jailed for their participation. desegregation, Charles Hamilton MA, and PhD degrees from the institution by 1895. ... the first Black general in Richard Theodore Greener, the first Black graduate The Civil Rights Move- , 1961 On Mother's Day, one the Army, the first Black presidential of Harvard College and later dean of the Howard of the Freedom Ride buses is badly Cabinet member.” University School of Law (also an HBCU), gradu- ment can be summed bombed outside Birmingham, Alabama. Historically Black Colleges and Univer- ated from Phillips Academy in 1865 and earned his up in a sentence as the 1962 The first Black student enrolls sities (HBCUs) began to be founded bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1870. pursuit of full citizenship at the University of Mississippi and as early as 1837, with the Cheyney The pursuit of African American education in violence and riots ensue, causing President John F. to send University of Pennsylvania. Two other America and its direct correlation to freedom and as promised by law. 5,000 troops to the campus to institutions would be formed before breaking the sometimes literal chains of oppression enforce order. The student—James the end of slavery: Lincoln Univer- cannot be overstated. The erasure of achievements The Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, which Meredith—will become viewed sity in Pennsylvania in 1854, and in early African American education is common, lasted a year, was mostly accomplished by as one of the pioneers of the Civil Wilberforce University in 1856, which with most assuming that education began with the organization led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Rights Movement, later leading the was a collaboration between the Brown v. Board of Education and integration. We Jr., the Montgomery Improvement Association. from Memphis, African Methodist Episcopal Church would be living in a very different world if those like Shortly after the boycott’s success in 1956, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi, of Ohio and the predominantly white DuBois, , John Hope, and so Dr. King’s speechwriter and fellow organizer in 1966. Methodist Episcopal Church. The first many more did not take the plunge to begin closing wrote a series of working April 16, 1963 Dr. King writes his university formed after the dissolu- the education gap between white former slave own- papers. Among many things, he theorized famous “Letter from Birmingham tion of slavery was Shaw University in ers and Black people of enslaved heritage. about the next best steps for the Civil Rights Jail,” after being arrested during anti- Movement and asked whether or not further Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. (State Archives of North Carolina) segregation protests in Alabama. Most organization to implement them would be a notably, in it he argues that “individuals crucial piece of the fight. have the moral duty to disobey unjust In response, King invited the Black ministers laws,” and that “injustice anywhere is of the South to what was initially called the a threat to justice everywhere.” Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Trans- This letter will become often cited as portation and Nonviolent Integration. Although the thing that motivates President a wordy title, it is helpful to understand the Kennedy to finally speak on civil rights intention of why these religious leaders met in June of this year.

STUDENT AND FAITH LEADERSHIP, NONVIOLENT PROTEST, AND THE PURSUIT OF CITIZENSHIP over the issues of civil liberty, and reveals their early inclinations toward nonviolent protest. The Southern Christian Leader Christian Southern The name, its adopted conference This Dr. Martin LutherDr. King, Jr. front Martin in SCLC of Amendment inAmendment 1870 expected was 100 than more where Alabama, Headquarters in Atlanta. (note this affected only Black men; only Black men; this affected (note Conference (SCLC), at their first their at first (SCLC), Conference effective because they were not they were not because effective of citizenshipof all to citizens in 1868 the freed, Amendment14th officially training programs. offer to and wentoften into communities to staff Their movement. entire the of smaller civil rights organizations. smaller organizations. civil rights particularly was ship Conference women would not be included included be women would not rights the confer to supposed was meeting in 1957 in Montgomery, When enslaved Black people were were enslaved people Black When ing umbrella several for organization Most importantly,Most the conference themselves, they were an overarch an were they themselves, policy. create to Leadership Christian Southern the until the next century). The 15th The century). next until the philosophiespreach nonvio the of center moral the represent to helped movement leading the necessarily religious gathered civic and leaders lence from the Christian perspective, perspective, Christian lence the from - - - The nonviolent trainings they sponsored changed changed nonviolent trainings they sponsored The explain injustices the for inspiration the These summed Movementbe can up Civil Rights The Atlanta meeting, leading to the establishment of meeting, of leading establishment the to Atlanta of thousands register to and Americans African On NovemberOn 5,1957, Christian Southern voters for elections in 1958 elections 1960. for and voters earn their rights. rights. their earn goal of the campaign was to correct the histori the correct to campaign the was of goal citizen. Men and women who can not vote are are vote citizen. not women and can Men who of voting rights the restricted that injustices cal had voted. could your only if vote grandfather Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s first first Conference’s Leadership Christian Southern age to Washington, there cannot be citizenship be cannot age Washington, there to clause,”a “grandfather you that which dictated spaces, voter registration, and sit-in protests. and sit-in voterspaces, registration, protests. Pilgrim Prayer “As the at out Ipointed stated: which is one of the civil rights groups active in in active groups civilwhich the is of one rights citizen vote. to right Avoteless is the no without major campaign: Crusade for Citizenship. for Crusade The major campaign: disciplined students with the tools they needed to to needed they tools the with disciplined students its ideals,deep and allegiance his its to nation, his to is atribute right deprived this sacred of the At this Crusade. plans for set to day retreat in a sentence as the pursuit of full of citizenship pursuit the as in as asentence In addition to voter registration and nonviolent nonviolent and voter registration to addition In Leadership Conference members had a one- a had members Conference Leadership the entire landscape of protesting, equipping protesting, of landscape entire the public of desegregation way to came the it when of world the Conference, Leadership Christian Nashville the level. were change creating tions alocal on A organiza affiliate Conference Leadership tian while American remains Negro apatriotic the That heritage. national their exiled from forcibly something called and fraud, tests, literacy taxes, poll of in form onslaught continued the the that practices discriminatory the correct to press conference following conference this meeting, Dr.press King by law.promised but voting, from Americans African prevented hundreds of well-dressed, well-intentioned, hundreds well-dressed, and of the at present was Nashville from representative policies Chris amacro on level, Southern the Democracy.” of promise Too Heavy for Your Pocket . They led led . They - - - -

DIRECTOR RON OJ PARSON THE INTERVIEW Jerry Moore (1941-2015), (1941-2015), Moore Jerry cousin of Ron OJ Ron of cousin activist, Freedom Rider, Pocket, musician, and preacher. Ron OJ Parson.Ron Parson, rights civil (ROJ) (AM) (AM) ed struggle.”ed Cruse, Harold from that Ilearned gomery (AM) spoke with director and Time and director with spoke (AM) gomery still in a struggle to get respect. “It’s aprotract “It’s still to get respect. in astruggle let’ssibilities it. do of happening that I thought: constant battle, a constant struggle to maintain. struggle aconstant battle, constant in college, ofone my professors it’s that a is important. movement,and the to speak, so going is hopefully to Moore, be cousin Donald about his family connection to this play, to his familyabout connection the During rehearsals for for rehearsals During involved, so when I thought about all pos involved, the about Ithought when so does this story need to be told to now? be need this story does It’s gonna always relevant we be are because in rekindling of youth of spirit the importance him to him. talk or his younger But brother, my awayhe passed andIdidn’t to see get achance Line Company Member Ron OJ Parson (ROJ) (ROJ) Parson OJ Member Ron Company Line the movement, and more. more. and movement, the And what makes it relevant, makes it what you think? do And What attracted you to this play, attracted What andwhy Well, Ithink our any activism play about assistant director Am'Ber D. Am'Ber director Mont assistant

Too Heavy for Your Heavy for your Pocket about, I immediately was was immediately I about, this that is what out drawn to it. Unfortunately, (ROJ) subject matter. I’ve matter. I’ve subject a very big influence on on big influence a very (Jerry Rider a Freedom had I that always said my life. Ifound when So was my cousin—who in my family— Moore) play me to the is the What attracted attracted What Too Too - - - is is - 1964 is signed into law by President into law issigned 1964 by President 1965 July 2, 1964 2, July 11,June 1963 Alabama State troopers who prevent prevent who troopers State Alabama (EEOC), tasked with prevention of of prevention with tasked (EEOC), August 28, 1963 28, August George Wallace blocks two Black Black two Wallace blocks George employment discrimination due to to due discrimination employment September 15,September 1963 services, four members of the Ku Klux Klux Ku of the members four services, Memorial Lincoln ofthe in front speech at the registering from students origin, and establishes the U.S. Equal Equal U.S. the establishes origin, and in Church Baptist at 16th Street others will become known as Bloody Sunday Sunday Bloody as known will become discrimination. workplace signing Civil the to ofthe will contribute their crossing. their Bridge Pettis Edmund the cross to try in protest apeaceful during trooper 18 ofJimmie murder February the to plaguing city, event this the terrorism gathered. people 250,000 the to Philip in Birmingham, A. violence the standoff. the dissipate to campus to in protest on Sunday, on in protest 7. March day The Marion, Alabama. Six hundred people people hundred Six Alabama. Marion, response in partial isplanned march and Jobs for Washington on March February 21, 1965 February rights figure is assassinated. assassinated. Xis Malcolm figure rights race, color, sex, religion, national or Lee Jackson by an Alabama state state by Alabama an Jackson Lee Commission Opportunity Employment prevents It Johnson. Lyndon B. of1964. Act Rights Birmingham. racial Apinnacle ofthe and detonates that abomb plant Klan aDream” Have “I his gives famous King day. this on occurs which Dr.Freedom, plan The Rustin and Bayard Randolph Guard National the send must Kennedy because of the savage attacks by the by the savage attacks ofthe because injures girls and Black young four kills University of Alabama. President President ofAlabama. University The Selma to Montgomery Montgomery to Selma The

The Civil Rights Act of of Act Rights Civil The

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Prior to Sunday Sunday to Prior “Theatre is revolutionary, and it can change things.” because of our high regard for the quality execution of its mission and I saw a video today about a young totally open mind. Whereas—I mean you can do because we feel we can make a man, Black man, who was picking up that with any play, really—but with a new play you difference. We have lived in London garbage on his own property and the can kind of explore, experiment a little bit. And this and New York as well as Chicago, so police were harassing him. You know, play is kind of a non-linear structure so you can we do have some familiarity with the wanting him to show I.D. and this and really have fun so to speak, really create. So since wonderful theater opportunities that that. So, things haven’t changed— it’s early in the success of this play, we’re able to exist in all three cities. We believe that matter of fact, they’ve gotten worse. do that, and if you have actors who are willing to go Chicago is a great theater town and So I think you know, it’s an important with you, that’s a good thing. that TimeLine is a standout among play because again it rekindles the BACKSTAGE (AM) Who are some of your biggest influences as a range of worthy choices. We will spirit of youth in the movement. It’s an artist? Penny and Bill Obenshain. continue to be avid supporters as the young people who are going to they prepare for a new home that will change the world and they’re chang- (ROJ) Egbert Williams. I always say that without We’re thrilled to recognize two of our most properly showcase a Chicago jewel.” ing it now. And I think this [Too Heavy hesitation. He was the first African American Equity ardent supporters—Bill and Penny Obenshain. member, for one thing. He was a tortured soul, for Your Pocket] kind of rekindles that Bill has served as a TimeLine Board Member since whole drive of what we have to do to classically trained actor who had to do minstrels, and he’s just someone I always looked up to. Even 2016, but he and Penny began attending and sup- beat the odds. porting the theatre in 2008 when they experienced BACKSTORY: though I was never able to see much of him but just THE CREDITS (AM) What do you like about making reading about who he was, influenced me early on a performance of Weekend, soon followed by Not plays at TimeLine Theatre? Enough Air and The History Boys. Dramaturgy & Historical to continue my career. Research by Regina Victor and “That’s all it took to convince us that TimeLine was (ROJ) Well, at TimeLine we believe From the contemporary aspect it’s Steven McKinley Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel in the information around the play, special and a theater we wanted to support,” they Henderson, who is a prominent director and actor Written by Regina Victor, with you know, the lobby display and the recall. “The connection to events past and current today. Paul Carter Harrison, who was a theatre contributions by Yasmin Zacaria stimulates discussion and encourages us to do history of what we’re trying to do. So, scholar back with the Negro Ensemble Company. Mikhaiel, PJ Powers, Lydia P. Swift, we’re invested in the story and I think Von Washington, who’s a friend and mentor of mine further reading on topics and themes explored in and Lara Goetsch that’s an important part of it. the excellently staged productions. We love the early in my career. Marion McClinton, who is a Editing and Graphic Design

DONOR SPOTLIGHT: BILL AND PENNY AND OBENSHAIN BILL SPOTLIGHT: DONOR Backstory magazines and the lobby displays. They It’s an intimate theatre and I love director who really helped me when I got to Chicago. by Lara Goetsch doing intimate theatre productions That’s a good number. Martha Lavey was very help- add immeasurably to our understanding of the historical context underlying the story.” Rehearsal Photography because the people are right there ful to me, too, and Lou Bellamy, who gave me my by Jenny Lynn Christoffersen and my thing is making audiences feel first professional gig on the road directing. So all of As leadership supporters, and through Bill’s work on the Board, Bill and Penny have played a critical Too Heavy for Your Pocket the play and at TimeLine it’s not hard. those people influenced me. promotional image design role in enabling TimeLine to purchase a new home. (AM) Is your approach different (AM) Too Heavy for Your Pocket is all about by Michal Janicki And they’re just as excited about it as the rest of us: depending on if it’s a new play freedom and what it costs to get it. What advice do “The members of the company deserve this oppor- versus a second or third production you have for young people today trying to achieve Backstory is published tunity to stage their work in a facility that is worthy four times each season. or a classic? freedom at any cost? of the reputation they have established nationally as (ROJ) A play like this that hasn’t been (ROJ) You have to have stick-to-itiveness. You got well as among Chicago theatergoers,” they said. done a lot you can approach it with a to fight, you got to persevere. You’ve got to battle Our Mission: “We support many types of organizations in Chicago. the odds. That’s what we’ve had to do and what we TimeLine Theatre presents Director Ron OJ Parson at first rehearsal of The theater we have chosen to focus on is TimeLine stories inspired by history that continue to do. As I said before, young people are TimeLine's Too Heavy for Your Pocket. connect with today’s social and changing the world and that’s what we need. “We believe that Chicago is a political issues. You have to be a revolutionary, and I got that from Our collaborative artistic team Charles “OyamO” Gordon. Theatre is revolutionary, great theater town and that produces provocative theatre and it can change things. That’s what I would say, TimeLine is a standout among and educational programs that that’s the advice —you have to stick to it, and the engage, entertain and enlighten. fight always goes on. a range of worthy choices.” OUR 2019-20 SEASON EXPLORING TODAY'S ISSUES THROUGH THE LENS OF THE PAST

BY J.T. ROGERS BY GITHA SOWERBY DIRECTED BY NICK BOWLING DIRECTED BY MECHELLE MOE SEPTEMBER 10 – OCTOBER 20, 2019 NOVEMBER 6, 2019 – JANUARY 12, 2020 The 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Written in 1912 and ahead of its time in its this political thriller goes behind-the-scenes depiction of class, gender, and generational of the negotiations that brought about the warfare, this family drama tells a smart THE TIMELINE FLEXPASS TIMELINE THE 1993 peace agreement between Israel and and absorbing story about a woman’s the Palestine Liberation Organization. “place” in a male-dominated society. Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington

BY JAMES IJAMES BY TYLA ABERCRUMBIE DIRECTED BY WARDELL JULIUS CLARK DIRECTED BY RON OJ PARSON FEBRUARY 12 – APRIL 5, 2020 MAY 6 – JUNE 27, 2020 Inspired by the ever-growing list of slain Developed through TimeLine’s Playwrights unarmed black men and women, this is a Collective, this startling and vibrant world powerful, provocative reflection on recent premiere weaves a mother’s past with events and the possibilities of collective her daughters’ present in a complicated transformation and radical acts of joy. tale of family, legacy, and progress. THE BEST TO SEE AND WAY SAVE ON EVERYTHING NEXT SEASON TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington

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