LA Writers Center presented a reading of Strange Fruit: Part II by Jon Bastian as a part of their "Breathe" online play reading series livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv beginning Saturday 26 September 2020 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).
The LA Writers Center is proud to be a diverse organization. We have developed new work that has amplified BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ stories for almost two decades. But we can do better.
We think instead of speaking, it would be better to listen. Instead of making promises, it would be best to take action. With that in mind, LAWC is partnering with HowlRound to present “Breathe” an online play reading series designed to advance these stories.
We are presenting one reading a month through the end of the year.
Strange Fruit, Part II was written by Jon Bastian and directed by Che'Rae Adams and Martin Bedoian.
A tale of the 20th century, Strange Fruit is a non-chronological and kaleidoscopic interweaving of multiple interconnected stories. Ultimately it is the story of Matthew Shepard as he finds his place in American history. When we open Matthew has been brought to the fence where he ultimately dies. While at the fence, he is experiencing the history of other key people who are part of the systemic story of bigotry in America. He meets historical figures such as James Baldwin, Oscar Wilde, Billie Holiday, Walter White, Anne and Abel Meeropol, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and Mary and Hayes Turner. As he learns about their history, he is simultaneously learning the role HE plays in our country's history and he, in a way, is taking on the mantle. Crossing lines of gender, race, religion, and sexuality, “Strange Fruit” strives to remind us that, ultimately, our commonality is in being human, and the danger is in focusing upon our differences rather than our similarities. The play tells us that hope is a fleeting thing, and that the advances of one generation can never be taken for granted when removed so easily in the next.
The rest of the plays in the “Breathe” reading series will be announced shortly.
We hope you will attend, participate, and spread the word. We believe these stories need to be heard and we are now, more than ever, prepared to listen.
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