Burning Coal Opens Spring Repertory With GEE'S BEND and SOUTHEASTERN 4/15-5/2

Burning Coal Theatre Company of Raleigh, NC will present two plays in repertory, the North Carolina premiere of GEE'S BEND by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder and the world premiere of SOUTHEASTERN CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS by Angus MacLachlan April 15 - May 2, 2010 at Meymandi Theatre at the Murphey School.

GEE'S BEND by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder is based on the true story of the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama, whose innovative quilts now hang in our nation's most prestigious art museums. Through family, faith, and quilting, the members of this isolated African-American community survived slavery, the Great Depression, and Jim Crow, in their journey toward becoming great American artists.

The quilts provided for GEE'S BEND are a result of the collaboration between Burning Coal Theatre Company and quilters and quilting guilds from across the state of North Carolina. These quilters have designed and constructed nearly a dozen custom-made quilts for the production. At the April 24th Lobby Lecture (6:15 pm), these artists will display their Gee's Bend-inspired quilts and discuss the process of designing and building these quilts. The panel will include members of the Gate City Quilt Guild in Greensboro, the Capital Quilters Guild and Ebony Raleigh Area Group Stitchers in Raleigh, and the African-American Quilt Circle and the Durham-Orange Quilters' Guild in Durham. The quilts will then be auctioned off on-line. They may be viewed at www.burningcoalquilts.com/quilts/Auction.html.

SOUTHEASTERN is a comedy by Winston-Salem based playwright Angus MacLachlan. It concerns a young writer living in that North Carolina city, working to make a life for himself in the arts while dealing with the very real needs of two women, his sister and a young college professor who has recently moved to town and taken up residence squarely in his heart.

Meymandi Theatre is located at 224 Polk Street, Raleigh. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are $20 or $15 for students, Seniors and Active Military. Thursday tickets are $10. Sunday, April 18 at 2 pm is Audio Described for the Hearing Impaired and ‘Pay What You Can' day.  GEE'S BAND performs April 16, 18, 22, 24, 30 and May 2, 2010. SOUTHEASTERN performs April 15, 17, 23, 25, 29 and May 1, 2010. For reservations (recommended), please call 919-834-4001 or visit www.burningcoal.org.