NAACP and Iron Age Theatre Announce Theatrical Juneteenth Celebration in Norristown for 6/16

On June 16th Iron Age Theater and the NAACP Youth Council of Norristown will celebrate the freeing of the slaves in a theatrically dynamic way. The third annual Juneteenth event will take guests on a walking tour of downtown Norristown with a series of stops where professional actors from the region will present scenes, monologues or historical documents accenting the theme of freedom and slavery. Norristown celebrates Juneteenth as part of the towns year long bicentennial events.

The hour long tours begin at The Centre Theater at 208 DeKalb Street in Norristown from 10 am to 2:20 pm with a tour leaving every 20 minutes. This free event will include a walking tour led by member’s of the NAACP Youth Council who will share Norristown and African American historical details. This teaming of professional actor, youth guide and historical location make for an educational experience that touches both sides of the event, the performers and the audience. It is recommended that visitors reserve a time slot.

This third celebration includes additional performances which speak to the head and the heart. Figures like Martin Luther King, WEB Dubois and Sojourner Truth will be brought to life as well as stories from the lives of slaves and freed slaves. The production has met with audience and critical acclaim each year.

Juneteenth is the celebration of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19th 1865 and as of that reading the last slaves in the nation had heard the document and were freed.

John Doyle, designer and director of the production, stated “Our actors are passionate and talented. The event has an ensemble feel with actors returning year after year to bring more of our shared history to life. I love working with them and their commitment to their craft and the material is thrilling.”

The cast includes Maurice Tucker, Richard Bradford, Bob Weick, Seidah Hill, Michael LeLand, Walter DeShields, Mydera Robinson and Tiffany Joiner. Tucker appeared in the recent film, “IV Degrees”. Bradford is one of the most active black actors in the region and recently appeared in “The Life of John Henry” and “ The Slave.” Tiffany Joiner is a noted regional actress and author. Bob Weick was seen in the national tour of “Marx in Soho” by Howard Zinn and “Grace and the Art of Climbing.” Robinson is a Norristown native and performance poet. LeLand was the founder of Theatre Double and performed Stokley Carmichael last year.

John Doyle, Artistic Director of Iron Age Theater, stated ”Bringing actors into the streets is invigorating. We did this during the April Arts Hill Launch Celebration to incredible success.”
Students from the NAACP Youth Council will share a bit of Norristown’s History during the walk, which covers about eight blocks.

Ernie Hadrick, vice president of the Norristown NAACP, stated “This is a chance for the fulfillment of a dream. To bring people to our town and expose them to the exciting places could not be better for the town. Our rich history deserves to be accessed.”

The event is supported by a variety of local sponsors. The support from the community makes it possible to offer the event for free. Upward Bound, Health Partners, Norristown NAACP, Milligan and Co. LLC, The Norristown Arts Council, and H and H Realty have all donated to assure black history is alive in Norristown.

Turner Commuting Transit has graciously offered to provide van transportation between Iron Age Theatre's Juneteenth Event and the Juneteenth event at Selma Mansion. This gives patrons of both events easy transportation back and forth from each venue, creating a dynamic day of celebration. The van will also take patrons to the Martin Luther Kind III event and back.
The past years' Juneteenth tours have focused on the idea of freedom that grew from emancipation and the suffering and rage that came from the slave experience. These emotionally potent presentations can be taken virtually at the Iron Age Theatre website. http://www.ironagetheatre.org.

This project is firmly in the hands of the Youth Council of Norristown's NAACP. President, Sahim Wallace, is focused on bringing his organizations best to the event. Hadrick also stated “The students of the Youth Council are real go getters. They have been activated politically and now will share their love of their heritage as part of the tour. They get to learn while they serve.”
Rather than a rushed automotive tour, the sponsors decided to take people through town at a slower pace. Hadrick commented “Walking through Norristown will assure people have the time to see the beautiful architecture around our downtown.”

This year's event is produced in conjunction with the Norristown Bicentennial celebration. As Norristown remembers its history, the stories of the Juneteenth event help us focus on its rich African American traditions.

Working together, the Centre Theater and Iron Age Theatre have been one of the most critically acclaimed companies in the area for over fifteen years. The Philadelphia City Paper called the companies, the area’s most under appreciated professional theater. Receiving Barrymore nominations for their productions the company has premiered six plays in the past two years including last falls hit “The Life of John Henry,” “Citizen Paine,” “Waiting for the Ship from Delos,” and Jeffrey Hatcher’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” They brought plays to packed houses during Fringe Festivals ranging from the east coast premiere of the hilarious “Shakesploitation” to Amiri Baraka’s intense “Dutchman” performed at the African American Museum and featured on the cover of Theatre Journal. The Iron Age production of Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho has gone on to tour the nation for the past four years in over 180 venues.

The NAACP Youth Council is a dynamic facet of the Norristown NAACP, which recently celebrated it 50th anniversary. The Youth Council has held a Anti Violence Rally in Downtown Norristown, a series of cooking classes and their yearly retreat. The group of young adults also visited the Great Debate at Yale University. They were part of the Arcadia Black Youth Development Symposium. Their volunteer activities in Norristown are an important part of the community's revitalization.

In 1994, Iron Age helped open the historic Eastern State Penitentiary with the original play Tunnel which chronicled the infamous 1945 escape. Iron Age created site specific pieces to help raise funds for the crumbling old penitentiary and their “Haunted Cellblocks” were the precursor to the fabulously successful “Terror Behind the Walls” Halloween fright fest. They also produced the original “Bastille Day Spectacle”.

For more information or to reserve a time on the tour, call 610-279-1013 or email juneteenthnorristown@gmail.com

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