::: Down in Mississippi :::
Down in Mississippi
explores the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, as three college students - an African-American man, a white woman and
a white man - travel to the dangerous world of Mississippi in 1964. Their journey begins at Western College for Women
in Oxford, Ohio and takes them from rural Mississippi to the national spotlight. Along the way, they discover that they
have to change themselves in order to change the world. Written by Carlyle Brown, this world premiere performance will
be directed by Ann Elizabeth Armstrong with musical direction by Tammy L. Kernodle.
Performances will take place in the Gates-Abegglen Theatre, Center for Performing Arts, Miami University on:
October 1-3, 2009 at 8:00 pm.
October 4, 2009 at 3:00 pm. and
October 8-10, 2009 at 8:00 pm.
Tickets are now available on sale.
Click
here
to purchase online or call the box office at 513-529-3200
The Department of Theatre and the Center for American and World Cultures commissioned the play from Carlyle Brown
with sponsorship from the President's Academic Enrichment Award Sherriff Grant. Produced as a collaboration between the
Department of Theatre, the Center for American and World Cultures, the Performing Arts Series, and the Department of
Music, Down in Mississippi is also co-sponsored by the Miami University's Bicentennial Committee, the Western College
Alumnae Association, and the Institute for Learning in Retirement.
The Playwright
Carlyle Brown is a writer/performer and artistic director of Carlyle Brown & Company based in Minneapolis, which has produced The Masks of Othello: A Theatrical Essay, The Fula From America: An African Journey, and Talking Masks. His plays include The African Company Presents Richard III, The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show, Buffalo Hair, The Beggars' Strike, The Negro of Peter the Great, Pure Confidence, A Big Blue Nail and others. He has received commissions from Arena Stage, the Houston Grand Opera, the Children's Theatre Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Goodman Theater, Miami University of Ohio and the University of Louisville. He is recipient of playwriting fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Jerome Foundation, Theatre Communications Group and the Pew Charitable Trust. Mr. Brown has been artist-in-residence at New York University School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program, The James Thurber House in Columbus, and Ohio State University Theater Department where he directed his music drama, Yellow Moon Rising. Mr. Brown is a core member at Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis and he is an alumnus of New Dramatists in New York and a member of the Dramatists Guild. He is on the board of directors of The Playwrights' Center and Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the non-profit professional theater and the Jerome Foundation. He is the 2006 recipient of The Black Theatre Network's Winona Lee Fletcher Award for outstanding achievement and artistic excellence and a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow.
Link to: www.carlylebrownandcompany.org
The Process
The Department of Theatre and the Center for American and World Cultures commissioned nationally recognized playwright Carlyle Brown to write a play about Freedom Summer. After a residency at Miami University, Brown created Down in Mississippi. As part of the process of new play development, the "staged reading" informal presentation of the script that marks the beginning of the creative process for the fully staged production. The first staged reading was produced at the Minneapolis-based Playwrights' Center in the Ruth Easton New Play Series in collaboration with the Guthrie Theatre on January 19th, 2009. For more about this reading, see Link to: http://www.truveo.com/Down-in-Mississippi/id/3997063916
Sponsored by the School of Fine Arts Scholarship and Teaching Award, Miami University's Department produced a staged reading of Down in Mississippi on February 28, 2009.
Check back here for the future blogsite of Miami University' production.
The Program Guide
Program Guide (PDF)
::: Curricular Programming and Materials :::
Down in Mississippi: A Primer
DIM Primer For faculty using Down in Mississippi in the classroom: A guide to programs such as interactive presentations, walking tours, and lobby display.Curricular Materials
Materials Discussion questions and bibliography of resources for teaching about Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights MovementWalking Tour
This 45 minute walking tour starts at Clawson Hall and ends at the Freedom Summer Memorial across from Peabody Hall. The tour provides a detailed account of the events that occurred at Western College in June 1964. Tours are available for request for classes or groups between September 1 and October 31 during daylight hours. To reserve or request a tour, contact Karen Gotter, Western Program Student Activities Coordinator at freedomsummerwalk@muohio.edu.From September 1-October 15, drop in tours will take place Tuesdays at noon and Fridays at 3 pm - no reservation required.
About the Freedom Summer Ambassadors Program
Check the Ambassador’s BlogInformation about peer led community programming for Down in Mississippi and Freedom Summer: Then and Now, Unity and Change
::: Past Performance Projects :::
Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey
Wouldn’t Program (PDF)Program for performance from 2004 Freedom Summer Conference and Reunion
Bourbon at the Border
By Pearl CleageArchive for Bourbon Archive of Miami University Theatre’s 2005 production including photos and program guide
Freedom Summer Scholars
Homepage Archive (PDF)Finding Freedom Summer Conference at Miami University - 2004
::: Links to Sites about Theatre, Performance and Freedom Summer :::
Theatre and performance were important to the history of Freedom Summer. Students in Freedom Schools created plays. The Free Southern Theater was a professional touring theatre company affiliated with SNCC. Music and singing were another key activity.
Freedom Schools
http://www.educationanddemocracy.org
This site contains the curriculum used in Freedom Schools.
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407ss/
This site contains the text of McComb, USA, a play written and produced by the students of the McComb Freedom School in 1964.
Free Southern Theatre
http://www.nathanielturner.com/legacyfreesouttheater.htm
The Legacy of the Free Southern Theatre in New Orleans
http://www.junebugproductions.blogspot.com/
About John O’Neal’s Junebug Theatre Company in New Orleans
Music in the Civil Rights Movement
http://www.upress.umn.edu/artofprotest/chapter1.html
A bibliography of sources about singing in the movement.