Towne Street Theatre to Stage BLACK ANNIE AND THE PASTOR

To celebrate Black History Month, Towne Street Theatre will present Black Annie and the Pastor for one night only on Sunday February 27, 2022 at 4:00 pm. Join the theatre on Zoom for the play and stay for a live talk-back with the cast and crew immediately following the performance.

This new drama takes us behind the photograph and exposes the true story of that fateful day in August 1930. It, too, is a day that lives in infamy. A day that singer Billie Holiday immortalized in her heart-wrenching recording "Strange Fruit."

In August of 1930, a mob numbering ten to fifteen thousand white people dragged two African American teens, from their jail cells in Marion Indiana and lynched them on the courthouse grounds. The word went out that their bodies were to remain hanging to "send a message." Pastor J. E. Johnson and three other African American men from nearby Muncie, at a time when almost thirty percent of white Protestant men belonged to the Indiana Ku Klux Klan, defiantly drove to Marion, retrieved those bodies, and took them to be properly prepared for burial. This act of unheralded bravery has faded from memory... until now.

"Throughout Towne Street's 29-year history, our main objective has been to seek justice and heal from racial disparities through the arts, said Nancy Cheryll Davis, Artistic Director of TST. Today, more than ever, we have to continue to truthfully tell our stories, which are a part of not only Black History, but also our shared American history. We proudly present this reading to inspire contemplation, as well as to bring increased awareness of the powerful storytelling talents of today's African-American writers."

Tickets are available on a "pay-what-you-will" basis, and they can be reserved now on Eventbrite.

Black Annie & The Pastor is written and directed by Tony Robinson.

It features a cast of Amani Atkinson, Wil Bowers, Major Culbert, Tamara Koltes, Raymond Mitchell, RJ Wayne, Mack Miles, KPD, Anthony Johnson, Aneisha Hughes, Daphne Jones, Charlotte Williams, Veronica Thompson, Skylar Silverlake, Jeremiah Benjamin, Aron Cobb, John Alexander, David Macdonald, and Steven Guire Knight.

The play is produced by Nancy Cheryll Davis, Nancy Renee, Kristina Roth, Teressa Taylor & Veronica Thompson.

The Towne Street Theatre is L.A.'s Premiere African-American Theatre Company. This year, it is celebrating 29 years.
www.townestreetla.org * email: info@townestreetla.org * @tsttweeting Instagram: @townestreettheatre *www.facebook.com/TowneStreet

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