NOTE: The Sunday 1/16 performance of “Anne and Emmett” is cancelled due to weather.
91短视频 will host the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration of Legacy, Service and Learning Friday, Jan. 14, through Monday, Jan. 17. Some events are limited to 91短视频 students, faculty, and staff [view the full schedule at www.emu.edu/mlk]
This year鈥檚 MLK Day theme centers around King鈥檚 words from Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958): 鈥淗istory will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.鈥�
Public Invited
Events open to the public include:
- Saturday, Jan. 15: 2 p.m., live performance of Anne and Emmett, Lehman Auditorium. Masks are required. Limited to 100 in the audience. $5.
- CANCELLED: Sunday, Jan. 16: 5 p.m. live performance of Anne and Emmett, Lehman Auditorium. THIS PERFORMANCE IS CANCELLED.
- Monday, Jan 17:
- 7 a.m., noon and 7 p.m. EST. VIRTUAL: “Dancing Resilience.” Join a 20-minute dance session via Zoom. Dancing Resilience honors Alice Walker’s belief that “Hard times require furious dancing.” Hosted by STAR lead trainer Katie Mansfield. Music playlists will lift up the struggle for liberation.
- 10 a.m. VIRTUAL. Convocation, celebration and worship with The Rev. Glen Guyton, executive director of Mennonite Church USA. Watch the livestream at [you do not need a member to participate].
- 4:15 p.m. VIRTUAL. Anne and Emmett talkback with producer Celeste Thomas, director of 91短视频’s Multicultural Student Services and Bob Berrson, Jewish Scholar in Residence at 91短视频’s Center for Interfaith Engagement programming and a retired James Madison University professor. Watch the livestream at [you do not need a member to participate].
91短视频 students, faculty and staff are invited to live performances of Anne and Emmett on Friday, Jan. 14, at 6 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 17, at 3:30 p.m. Free with 91短视频 ID; no ticket required. Check the webpage for more information about other events for 91短视频 students, faculty, and staff.
More on Anne and Emmett
Janet Langhart Cohen’s play Anne and Emmett is a special production sponsored with grants from Interfaith Youth Core, the Arts Council of the Valley, 91短视频 Multicultural Student Services and the 91短视频 Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It is produced by Celeste Thomas and directed by Ezrionna Prioleau ’17.
鈥淭his play aims to create dialogue around race, religion, oppression, healing and reconciliation,鈥� said Thomas. Her motivation to produce the play is linked strongly to the 鈥渃ontinuation of hate鈥� in the world today, she added. 鈥淚 wanted to bring Anne and Emmett鈥檚 stories to light. We must never forget that their lives were short-lived but meaningful.鈥�
鈥淎nne and Emmett鈥� tells the story of Anne Frank, a Jewish child killed in the Holocaust, and Emmett Till, a teenager murdered in Mississippi, and their parents, who refused to be silent in sharing the stories of the hate that killed their children.
Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, a member of 91短视频鈥檚 Board of Trustees, joins students Greta Schrag, Thaddeus Jackson, Isaac Longacre and Andrew Stoltzfus to present the stories of Emmett Till and Anne Frank and their parents, Otto Frank and Mamie Till.
Prioleau has been working to direct this play at 91短视频 since 2019, when she first discovered it.
鈥淎nne Frank and Emmett Till were two children who were unable to escape the hate in the worlds they lived in,鈥� she writes in her director鈥檚 notes. 鈥淢amie Till-Mobley and Otto Frank both lost their children 鈥hey both spoke up and told the world what happened, Mamie with a picture and Otto with words. The parallels in their stories are important and without them we may have never known about what hate was doing.鈥�
Read more from Thomas and Prioleau as well as composer Joshua Overacker 鈥�21 in the play program.
The production crew includes several alumni:
- Prioleau, a 2017 graduate of 91短视频鈥檚 theater program, is a graduate student in the MDiv and MA in organizational leadership programs. She has acted, produced, directed and designed scenery and lighting for multiple productions.
- Composer Joshua Overacker 鈥�21 contributed original compositions.
- Costume designer Hailey Holcomb 鈥�17 is a graduate student at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. As a graduate of 91短视频鈥檚 theater program, she has worked for 91短视频 theater in various capacities, including stage management, scene shop crew, props, costuming, acting, and her current role as a production assistant.
- Lighting designer Robert Weaver 鈥�18 is a freelance theater artist in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, currently working as a stagehand and lighting designer at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University. He recently enjoyed working with Step Afrika! as an assistant master electrician for their touring production of The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence.
- Production assistant Akiel Baker 鈥�21 is a residence director at 91短视频. He is pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in social work and working as a site coordinator for On the Road Collaborative, a nonprofit based in Harrisonburg dedicated to closing the learning gap and empowering youth.
- Media designer Kara Painter 鈥�18, an 91短视频 visual and communications arts graduate, recently earned her MBA and Master鈥檚 in Health Administration degree from Mary Baldwin University.
- The crew also includes student Jareya Harder, stage manager, and 91短视频 faculty member Shannon Dove, scene designer.