Serena Ebhardt in "The Parchman Hour" with Mike Wiley Productions

Don't miss Serena Ebhardt in "The Parchman Hour" with Mike Wiley Productions' 2013 cARTwheels Tour sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council.  Serena also serves as Arts-In-Education director for the tour, providing workshops to teachers in order to help them prepare student audiences for viewing the production.  Visit the study guide created by Serena for this production here...  http://www.mikewileyproductions.com/characters.html

  • Jan 18th Elizabeth City, NC
    Jan 19th Cary, NC
    Jan 22nd Asheville, NC
    March 8th Gates County, NC
    March 11th Kinston, NC
    March 12th Duplin County, NC
    March 13th Duplin County, NC
    March 14th Washington, NC
Mike Wiley Productions’ newest work commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders. In 1961, the original 13 riders boarded a bus in Washington, DC bound for New Orleans via Mississippi and Alabama. They barely made it out of Alabama alive. Over the course of the next three months, approximately 300 other riders took up the mantle and followed the path of those first brave few. Mobs brutally assaulted many. Others were arrested and, instead of posting bail, chose to serve sentences in one of the most brutal prisons in the South, Parchman Farm, proving the Freedom Riders and the movement to desegregate interstate travel would not be deterred.

Presented in the style of the variety shows of yesteryear, this moving production explores three of the tensest months of 1961. The Parchman Hour brings to the stage powerful oral histories and conversations from the Freedom Rides’ most iconic protagonists and antagonists.

“Did you know that at Parchman, to pass the time and to keep our spirits up, we ‘invented’ a radio program? I don’t recall that we named it, but ‘The Parchman Hour’ would have been a good name. Each cell had to contribute a short “act” (singing a song, telling a joke, reading from the Bible -- the only book we were allowed) and in between acts we had ‘commercials’ for the products we lived with every day, like the prison soap, the black-and-white striped skirts, the awful food, etc. We did this every evening, as I recall; it gave us something to do during the day, thinking up our cell’s act for the evening.” — Mimi Real, Freedom Rider, 1961

Originally produced by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the Department of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Parchman Hour is a celebration of bravery and a call to action through remembrance, leaving the audience asking, “Who stood up for me? Moreover, for whom can I stand up for today? Who needs my words, my song, my voice?”

Production is 90 minutes in length and appropriate for a mixed audience.
There is also a 50 minute student version for grades 6 and higher.

Compliment: From Alkahest Artists & Attractions, Inc.

 
"You guys are simply the best. There needs to be a photo of you two in the dictionary right next to the word "Class," and another one next to the word "Ethics." And I couldn't be more serious."

Thank you for ALL!
Mac Frampton
Alkahest Artists & Attractions, Inc.


Thanks, Mac.
We admire you, too!

-Serena and David

Gwendolyn Boyd, Asheville Middle School Orators, and “The Parchman Hour” to Highlight Martin Luther King Jr. Week at UNC Asheville | UNC Asheville :: North Carolina’s Public Liberal Arts University

Gwendolyn Boyd, Asheville Middle School Orators, and “The Parchman Hour” to Highlight Martin Luther King Jr. Week at UNC Asheville | UNC Asheville :: North Carolina’s Public Liberal Arts University

(note: Serena Ebhardt plays "JoanTrumpauer" in "The Parchman Hour" tour.)

A presentation of "The Parchman Hour" and a keynote talk by Gwendolyn Boyd, longtime activist for women's equality and recruitment of African Americans into science and engineering, will highlight Martin Luther King Jr. Week at UNC Asheville. The week will also include opportunities for student participation in a day of service during the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, and transportation for students to other area events celebrating King's life and legacy.
Gwendolyn BoydGwendolyn BodyAn engineer, Boyd is executive assistant to the chief of staff at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and is chair of that university's Diversity Leadership Council. She was the first African American woman to earn a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Yale, and is a past recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Public Service Award. She is past president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, a service organization of more than 200,000 women.
Accompanying Boyd's keynote talk will be presentations by the two winners of an oratory contest open to middle school students in Asheville and Buncombe County. The two winners, both from Asheville Middle School, will talk about the meaning of Dr. King's work in their lives. This event is free and open to the public at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, in UNC Asheville's Lipinsky Auditorium.
"The Parchman Hour" brings to life the experiences of the freedom riders through the form of a variety show. Written and produced by Mike Wiley, the show is tribute to the courage, insight and creativity of the young civil rights activists who created radio acts for each other within the walls of Mississippi's notorious Parchman Farm Penitentiary, after being beaten and arrested for riding buses in defiance of Jim Crow segregation rules. "The Parchman Hour" is free and open to the public, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, in UNC Asheville's Lipinsky Auditorium.
Martin Luther King Jr. Week activities at UNC Asheville are co-sponsored by many of the university's offices, programs and academic departments, including the Intercultural Center, Office of Multicultural Student Programs, Center for Diversity Education, and Cultural Events & Special Academic Programs.
For more information, visit the Multicultural Student Programs website, or call Lamar Hylton, director of the Intercultural Center, at 828.258.7671.

In Memory of Dr. Richard Borden, featured in War Bonds.

Dr. Borden's inspirational story, shared in "War Bonds", told of how he watched his best friend die beside him
on the beaches on D-day. He also explained how it inspired him to help hundreds of other men that day.
  
In Civilian life, Dr. Borden delivered over 2000 babies in Morehead City, NC.  His ability to give life, joy and inspiration, even though he had seen the heart of darkness, inspired us to continue to have faith, even when the world around us looks bleak.
 
Thank you Dr. Borden.  Your spirit still lives within us.
-Serena and David zum Brunnen
EbzB Productions.








A note from his daughter...

David and Serena,

Just a note of hello -
We loved the War Bonds show at Morehead City a number of years ago.
I took my father Dr Richard Borden and he enjoyed it so much.
Thank you for sharing his WWII experiences in your show.
I hope you are both well and have a wonderful 2013.

Regards,
Martha

@newhopefilm April 2024: The Problem of the Hero at New Hope Film Festival, New Hope, PA.

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