Preview of "The African Company Presents Richard III," Spring Production of The Theater Project

Join guest speakers from the Theater Project, Union County's Professional Theater Company, as they preview their spring production of The African Company Presents Richard III by Carlyle Brown.  The play will be performed at the Roy Smith Theatre, Union County College, Cranford Campus, from April 28 through May 15. The production is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The action of the play takes place 134 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus, and 44 years before the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. A group of actors, freed black slaves, refused to shut down their production of Shakespeare's Richard III when asked to do so by the established traditional (white) theater.  The outcome of their struggle in 1821 is sadly predictable, but the story of the events leading up to the crisis is fascinating. The Theater Project's presentation will include a scene from the play and some historical notes about the African Grove Company, circa 1821. The program is sponsored by the Cranford Public Library.