[Michlib-l] PRESS RELEASE: A play about book banning and racial integration - Peppermint Creek Theatre Announces Opening of "Alabama Story"

[Debbie Mikula]

Passing along some “theatrical news” out of Lansing which touches on book banning challenges many in our state have experienced.  Following in the footsteps of KDL who partnered with Ebony Road Players in Grand Rapids last year, the Lansing based Peppermint Creek Theatre will be producing the Lansing premiere of a play addressing book banning and racial integration – “Alabama Story” based on the challenges caused by the book “A Rabbit’s Wedding”.  Hope you all have a chance to see it.

Debbie


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2024

PRESS CONTACTS
Peppermint Creek Theatre Company
Heath Sartorius, Director, heathsartorius at gmail.com<mailto:heathsartorius at gmail.com>
Chad Swan-Badgero, Artistic Director, 517-927-3016; office at peppermintcreek.org<mailto:office at peppermintcreek.org>

PEPPERMINT CREEK THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES OPENING OF “Alabama Story”
Peppermint Creek Theatre produces Lansing premiere of play addressing book banning and racial integration

Lansing, MI – Peppermint Creek Theatre Company (PCTC) is proud to announce the opening of Alabama Story, a new play by New York playwright, and Michigan native, Kenneth Jones, running April 18 – 28, 2024.

As the Civil Rights movement is brewing, a controversial children’s book about a black rabbit marrying a white rabbit stirs the passions of a segregationist State Senator and a no-nonsense State Librarian in 1959 Montgomery, Alabama. A contrasting story of childhood friends—an African American man and a woman of white privilege, reunited in adulthood—provides a private counterpoint to the public events swirling in the state capital. Political foes, star-crossed lovers, and one feisty children’s author inhabit the same page in a Deep South of the imagination that brims with humor, heartbreak and hope—inspired by true events.
Playwright Kenneth Jones states, “In May 2000, while reading The New York Times, I came across the story of Emily Wheelock Reed, the former state librarian of Alabama who had been challenged by a segregationist politician in 1959. Alabama State Senator E.O. Eddins demanded that a children’s picture book — Garth Williams’ The Rabbits’ Wedding, about a rabbit with black fur marrying a rabbit with white fur — be purged from the shelves of Alabama libraries on the grounds that it promoted racial integration. Their conflict was reported worldwide. Before I finished reading the article, I knew this was an idea for a play.”

Alabama Story is the final production in Peppermint Creek’s 20th season, and a fitting production for a theatre company focused on addressing current issues. PCTC Artistic Director Chad Swan-Badgero explains, “Putting together a season of shows that address our mission statement in different ways is always a challenge and a privilege. As we wrap up our 20th season – which is hard to believe – I am excited to be doing it with this play that was suggested to me by the head of the Michigan Libraries Association”.  Swan-Badgero continues, “As a book lover, and former English teacher, it’s both frustrating and heartbreaking to see how book banning is still an issue we’re dealing with today. Alabama Story has given us a new perspective on this most perennial of issues”. The cast of Alabama Story features a talented ensemble of six local Lansing actors.

The production will take place at Stage One at Sycamore Creek Eastwood, 2200 Lake Lansing Road, Lansing MI 48912.  The show will run Thursday, April 18 – Sunday, April 21, and Thursday, April 25 – Sunday, April 28, 2024.  Show times are Thursday – Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 2pm.  Tickets can be ordered online at www.peppermintcreek.org<http://www.peppermintcreek.org>, and are $15 general admission, and $10 for students/seniors 65+/veterans.
This production of Alabama Story is generously underwritten by Rose & Jim Zacks.
Further information about this production:
Kenneth Jones is a playwright, lyricist and librettist who writes about his own work and advocates for other theater makers at ByKennethJones.com.
Watch a discussion about the creation of the play with the playwright and PCTC Artistic Director, here<https://youtu.be/con41-u8R1I?si=7iNdke_vC1gH3Vr6>.
Read a New York Times article<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/books/review/garth-williams-the-rabbits-wedding-banned-books.html> discussing how “The Rabbits’ Wedding” caused intense debate across the nation when it was published in 1959.
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