Theatre
Raleigh Presents BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME, Now thru 6/8
The
best selling novel by Timothy B. Tyson, is brought to life by
celebrated actor/writer, Michael Wiley in Blood Done Sign My Name
today, May 28th-June 8th at Kennedy Theatre. Blood Done Sign My Name
is a dramatization of the true story of a racially-motivated murder
committed in Oxford, NC in 1970. The crime and its aftermath still
resonate today, as we grapple with Stand Your Ground laws and our
personal responses to racism nearly half a century later. Appropriate
for ages 16+ (due to subject matter and language).
Single
tickets are $22-$30 and are available
athttp://www.theatreraleigh.com.
"We
are honored to bring this poignant production to Raleigh. Dramatizing
real events is a way to not only learn history, but feel it, and
develop a personal connection to it," said Lauren Kennedy,
Artistic Director for Theatre Raleigh.
In
Blood Done Sign My Name, Mike Wiley brings to life the recollections
of author Timothy B.Tyson surrounding the 1970 murder of Henry
"Dickie" Marrow in Oxford, NC and the events that followed.
Marrow, who was black, was chased from a local store by three white
men after reportedly making a crude remark to one of the men's wives.
They brutally beat Marrow then killed him with a bullet to the head
in view of multiple witnesses. Despite the eyewitness reports, an
all-white jury acquitted the men. The town's black community
responded to the events with an uprising that destroyed downtown
businesses and several tobacco warehouses holding at least a million
dollars in harvested crops. Tyson, who was 10 at the time, recounts
how the conflagration of events shaped his life and offers all of us
an opportunity to examine our own roles in the complex and often
confusing racial fabric of America.
Actor
and playwright Mike Wiley spent the first decade of his professional
career fulfilling a focused mission to bring educational theatre to
young audiences. His acclaimed work has now expanded to performing
arts centers and universities nationwide and to film screens and
festivals around the world. Wiley holds a Masters of Fine Arts from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has appeared on
the Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel and the National
Geographic Channel, profiled in Our State and American Theatre
magazines, and was named an Indy Artist of the Year in 2012. He is a
former Lehman Brady Visiting Professor at Duke University's
Center for Documentary Studies. Since 2010, Wiley has been awarded
multiple "Best Actor" awards at film festivals in the US
and Europe for the impressive Rob Underhill short films EMPTY SPACE
and WOLF CALL.
Blood
Done Sign My Name has twice been performed by invitation from the
city to standing-room-only audiences in Oxford, NC -- where its own
horrendous 1970 murder took place.
Serena
Ebhardt (Director) weaves a complex tale flawlessly. Acclaimed gospel
scholar and singer, Mrs. Mary D. Williams (Vocalist) reinforces the
action on stage with powerful and moving renditions of spirituals
such as Oh, Freedom, Swing Low Sweet Chariot and Soon I Will Be Done.
Tracy Francis (Production Manager), Michael Goolsby (Stage
Manager/Projections), Lauren Kennedy (Artistic Director),
and Michele Weathers (Managing Director) complete the crew.
