Runs Mar 29 – Apr 14, 2024
Written by:Kenneth Jones
Directed by:Stanley Coleman
Sponsor:TBA
Set in 1959 in Montgomery, Alabama, on the brink of the civil rights movement, the play unfolds around the seemingly innocuous children’s book, The Rabbits’ Wedding, written and illustrated by Garth Williams, featuring a wedding between a black rabbit and a white rabbit.
State Librarian Emily Reed, portrayed by Nancy West, finds herself in a compelling conflict with the formidable State Senator E. W. Higgins, portrayed by Marty Brown. To the senator, The Rabbits’ Wedding is a dangerous symbol of integration and interracial marriage, so he demands its removal and destruction. Unwavering in her defense of the book and intellectual freedom, Reed refuses the order, setting the stage for a gripping showdown.
In a parallel narrative, two childhood friends, a black male and a white female – Joshua Moore (Quinn Vasbinder) and Lily Whitfield (Sabrina Gross) – reunite as adults. Bound by childhood memories but divided by lived cultural experiences, they provide a private counterpoint to the public storm brewing in the capital.