Bonnie Cushing, Christina Swarns, Maxim Thorne and More to Lead Talks for Luna Stage's PASS OVER

Hailed by critics and capacity crowds, Pass Over, now playing at Luna Stage opened on February 6 and has received audience and critical acclaim.

In Antoinette Nwandu's award-winning and controversial play, Moses and Kitch chill on the corner talking smack, passing the time, and hoping that today a miracle will come. They stand by a lamppost in a present-day ghetto, but it's also a plantation, and it's also Egypt, a city built by slaves. A provocative mashup of Waiting for Godot and the Exodus saga, Pass Over exposes the unquestionable human spirit of young black men who dream about a promised land they've yet to find. Directed by Devin E. Haqq, Pass Over takes an unflinching look at our society's pervasive systems of oppression and the continuing epidemic of police killing unarmed Black men.

Upcoming special events include:

Friday, February 21 | Post-performance conversation with SOMA Community Coalition on Race

Sunday, February 23 | Post-performance conversation with Christina Swarns, President, Office of the Appellate Defender and Former Litigation Director of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Monday, February 24 | Community Conversation facilitated by Bonnie Cushing, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and co-founder of the North Jersey Chapter The Antiracist Alliance

March 1 | Post-performance conversation with Maxim Thorne, Managing Director of the Andrew Goodman Foundation

Anyone who has seen Pass Over and wants to share their thoughts and experiences are invited to Community Conversations on Monday evenings, 7pm. Upcoming talks are scheduled for February 17th, 24th, March 2nd, and March 9th.

The Star-Ledger, affiliated with NJ.com, hails the play's "hip-hop lyricism and biblical resonance...The play does not universalize; it makes it essential, insisting that this crisis is very real, very dangerous, and made all the more threatening by complacency...(Moses and Kitch) are characters in a play, but also they are urgently real."

Bonnie Cushing is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, an Antiracist Organizer and Educator and a Lifecycle Celebrant. She has worked in the mental health field for 30 years as a family-systems therapist and group facilitator, and for over 20 years has devoted herself to the movement for racial and social justice. She received her MSW from Adelphi University, her training as a family therapist from the Multicultural Family Institute of New Jersey, her antiracist training from the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond and her training as a "cleric without borders" - collaborating with people on meaningful ceremonies marking the milestones of their lives - from the Celebrant Foundation and Institute of North America. Bonnie is a core trainer with the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, and a trainer with the Center for Racial Justice in Education, the Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice, and the Soul-Focused Group. She is a co-founder and member of both The Antiracist Alliance- North Jersey Chapter, and its white affinity group, European Dissent- NJ. Bonnie has been the Vice President of the board of the Center for the Study of White American Culture for the past decade, where she also develops curriculum and co-facilitates workshops on issues of white culture, white privilege and white identity.

Christina Swarns is President and Attorney-in-Charge in New York City's Office of the Appellate Defender (August 2017 to present); Litigation Director, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (June 2014- July 2017); Director, Criminal Justice Project, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (November 2003-June 2014); Supervising Assistant Federal Defender and Assistant Federal Defender, Capital Habeas Unit, Philadelphia Federal Community Defender (November 1996-November 2003); Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division (February 1994-November 1996). University of Pennsylvania Law School (1993); Howard University (1990).

South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race is a nationally recognized non-profit organization committed to building a unique, suburban community that is free of racial segregation in housing patterns and community involvement. The Coalition was founded in 1996 by a diverse group of citizens concerned about stagnating property values and a perceived decline in the quality of local public schools. Since then, SOMA Community Coalition on Race has developed programs that promote the advantages of living in a racially inclusive community where all aspects of community life are integrated. The organization is run by a volunteer, racially representative Board of Trustees that includes ex officio representatives from both municipalities and the Board of Education. The Trustees chair committees staffed by community volunteers of varied races, faiths, and economic backgrounds who have an expressed commitment to achieving and sustaining the benefits of a thriving, racially integrated and truly inclusive community. Coalition programs and activities serve all the residents of South Orange, Maplewood, and surrounding communities that seek our support and advice on intentional integration strategies.

Maxim Thorne is an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who teaches on philanthropy at Yale University. He is the founder of JusticeInvestor, a litigation crowdfunding company focused on environmental and social justice cases. He became a Senior Vice-President of the NAACP in 2008, where he helped establish the first LGBT Task Force. Thorne helped argue Abbott v. Burke on behalf of Head Start and the NAACP. He became Managing Director of The Andrew Goodman Foundation in 2016 and was appointed Executive Vice-President of the Paley Center for Media in 2013. Thorne was active in the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, serving on the Finance and Policy Committees, LGBT Leadership Council and African American Leadership Council. He was previously chief operating officer at Human Rights Campaign, and Vice-President at Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Pass Over runs through March 1 at Luna Stage, located in West Orange's Valley Arts District, close to Montclair, Maplewood, South Orange, Livingston, Verona, Orange, Short Hills and Millburn. Tickets are $16-39, and are available at https://www.lunastage.org/shows/pass-over or by calling 973-395-5551.

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