You are cordially invited to
A multimedia staged reading of
The play “American Apartheid”
Saturday, August 25, 2:00 p.m.
In the Fellowship Hall of
Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church
407 Auburn Ave., Atlanta
The play will end at 3:15 and a reception will follow
With spiritual music by Dan Moore, Jr., and ensemble
Why you should come see the staged reading of the play
American Apartheid “She would be burnt at the stake if they discovered her!” he muttered.
On the eve of the Atlanta race riot of Sept. 22, 1906, Lola Johnson, who is 1/16 black, “passes” as white at a Jim Crow restaurant in Atlanta’s Five Points. She has a Coca-Cola with a white southern suitor, while her jilted black fiancé looks on in dismay.
American Apartheid, presented by a company of Atlanta professional and community actors, connects America’s Jim Crow era with today’s repressive, violent political movements and states the need to end all forms of apartheid suffered by humanity.
Set during the time of the 1906 Atlanta race riot, American Apartheid tells the story of a volatile love triangle and a struggle for dignity and respect in a hateful, racist society. Lola Johnson, a talented artist who is 1/16 African-American, passes as white. This deceives her new white love interest, celebrity journalist Roy Keough, and distresses her black fiancé, Dr. Musa Copelin. The triangle dramatically unravels during the riot. At the end, young people of today reading the story discuss its relevance to current events, and they see the need for nonviolence, tolerance and cultural diversity.
The play’s message about the universal bond of all humanity represents an essential ethic for the survival of liberty, justice and equality. The violent, intolerant mob mentality that has gripped America and the world will lead only to the destruction of democracy. The authors and cast present this play to affirm that our community will not let America return to the attitudes and methods of the darkest eras of history. It is time we move on to a higher ground. If you agree, please come and support our effort.
Presented in honor of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot Exhibit currently on display at the
National Parks Service MLK Historical Site
American Apartheid, written by Wade Marbaugh and Paul Hudson
Directed by Michael Chechopoulos
Adapted from The Law of the White Circle, 1908 novel by Thornwell Jacobs,
(Reprinted 2006 by University of Georgia Press)
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
For more information: 770-595-9136
