[NEohioPAL] Cleveland Public Theatre asks "DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR LIBERTY IS?" -- a series of community events surrounding UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

[Dan Kilbane]

“DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR LIBERTY IS?” DISCUSSIONS ABOUT RACE IN AMERICA
COMMUNITY EVENTS HIGHLIGHT CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE’S PRODUCTION OF UNCLE
TOM’S CABIN

CLEVELAND, OH  -- The Board of Directors, Executive Director James Levin,
Artistic Director Randy Rollison, and the staff of Cleveland Public Theatre
are proud to announce a series of challenging and informative community
events to complement CPT’s production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, The
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life in February 2004.
CPT, with its mission to inspire, nurture, challenge, amaze, educate, and
empower artists and audiences in order to make the Cleveland public a more
conscious and compassionate community, will work towards generating dialogue
on race and diversity in the Northeast Ohio area with this unique series.
Numerous organizations throughout the area will partner on these events,
strengthening the facilitation of this important dialogue.

This Friday, February 6, noon - 1:00 p.m.
Training Center of Cuyahoga County Corrections Center
The Justice Center
W. 3rd & Lakeside
Cleveland, OH  44113
Presented by the Racial Fairness Project
216-323-9116  (Molly Weiser, info at racialfairness.org
<mailto:info at racialfairness.org>)
“Uncle Tom’s Traffic Stop; or, The Fugitive Slave Act, Racial Profiling and
Other Incidents of Over-Identification of People of Color with Criminal
Wrongdoing”
This seminar will delve into racial justice concerns raised in the play,
with some focus on the Fugitive Slave Act and the modern day phenomenon of
racial profiling.  Speakers will explore, compare, and contrast incidents of
historical and contemporary over-identification of certain individuals with
crime or illegality based on skin color.
Attorneys:  this seminar has been approved for continuing legal education
credit, $10 admission for CLE credit.
Free admission to the general public.

Other events in this series include “Tearing Down Uncle Tom’s Cabin,”
Sunday, January 18, 2004, at 2:00 p.m. at Cleveland Public Library’s Main
Library; “Uncle Tom’s Traffic Stop; or, The Fugitive Slave Act, Racial
Profiling and Other Incidents of Over-Identification of People of Color with
Criminal Wrongdoing,” produced by the Racial Fairness Project at the
Training Center of Cuyahoga County Corrections Center (Justice Center),
Friday, February 6, 2004, at noon; "Where is Uncle Tom Today?" a panel
discussion at the The City Club of Cleveland, Wednesday, February 18, 2004,
at noon; MOCA Mix, Wednesday, February 11, 2004, at MOCA Cleveland;
“Underground Railroad,” featuring speaker Joan Southgate, presented by
Restore Cleveland Hope, at Euclid Heights Congregational Church, Tuesday,
February, 24, 2004, at 7:00 p.m.

Programming ranges from public meetings around town, panel discussions at
each Sunday performance, and post-show talkbacks with the audience at CPT.
Partner organizations on this series of community events include Cleveland
Public Library, West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, The Racial
Fairness Project, MOCA Cleveland, Trinity Cathedral, The African-American
Reparations Coalition, Restore Cleveland Hope, The City Club of Cleveland,
Cuyahoga Community College, and Urban Dialect.

This extraordinary series of community events was created by Ione Biggs,
Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice; Charles Bromley, Executive Director,
Housing and Research and Advocacy Center; Dagmar Celeste, CPT Board of
Directors; Sharon Dean, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology,
Case Western Reserve University, and Curator, Museum of Natural History;
Daniel Gray-Kontar, Editor, Urban Dialect; Betty Sue Feuer, Executive
Director, Anti-Defamation League; Jyana S. Gregory, Associate Artistic
Director, CPT; Juanita Helphrey, Minister and Team Leader, United Church of
Christ; Sandra Holmes, Associate Director, National Conference for Community
and Justice; Caroline Jackson-Smith, Professor, Theater & Dance Program,
Oberlin College; Greg Jacobs, Canon, Trinity Cathedral; Anthony Kellon,
Assistant Public Defender, Office of Public Defender Juvenile Division,
Cleveland; Dan Kilbane, Publicist, CPT; James Levin, Founder and Executive
Director, CPT; Lamont Lockhart, Chief of Police, Woodmere Village; Stanley
Miller, Executive Director, Neighborhood Centers Assoc., President, Board of
Trustees, NAACP; Edith Rasell, Minister for Labor Relations and Community
Economic Development, United Church of Christ; Ryida Reese, Black Studies
Program, Cleveland State University; Randy Rollison, Artistic Director, CPT;
Judith Ross, Director of Development, CPT; Shellie Sedlak, CPT Board of
Directors; Joan Southgate, Restore Cleveland Hope; Evelyn Ward, Cleveland
Public Library; Molly Weiser, Executive Director, Racial Fairness Project;
Dr. Rhonda Williams, Professor, Case Western Reserve University; and Rebecca
Youngerman, Assistant Director, Anti-Defamation League.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle
for Life is CPT’s 2003-04 season American Classics production, a series
which reexamines classic American theatre in a contemporary context).  The
adaptation, by Floraine Kay and Randolph Curtis Rand of Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s classic novel, tells the  story of a kindly slave sustained by faith
while tested by vicious cruelty.

Following is the list of community events, including program title,
sponsoring organization, dates, times, addresses, locations, contact phone
numbers, and admission price (many are free admission).

Sunday, January 18, 2:00 p.m.
Cleveland Public Library Main Branch
Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium
325 E. Superior Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44114
216-623-2881 (Evelyn Ward, Literature Department)
“Tearing Down Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
Randolph Curtis Rand, co-adapter and director of this new stage version,
will discuss the adaptation process, including the addition of slave
narratives and philosophical discourse on race in this theatre piece.
Program takes place in the Auditorium located on the lower level of the
Louis Stokes Wing.
Free admission

Sunday, January 25, 10:15 a.m.
West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church
20401 Hilliard Blvd.
Rocky River, OH  44116
440-333-2255 x102 (Reverend Wayne Arnason, warnason at wsuuc.org
<mailto:warnason at wsuuc.org>)
“Living in Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
Reverend Arnason's sermon will reflect on racial identity not as a matter of
biology but as a political invention in support of power and control.  An
excerpt from the play will be presented.
Free admission

Friday, February 6, noon - 1:00 p.m.
Training Center of Cuyahoga County Corrections Center
The Justice Center
W. 3rd & Lakeside
Cleveland, OH  44113
Presented by the Racial Fairness Project
216-323-9116  (Molly Weiser, info at racialfairness.org
<mailto:info at racialfairness.org>)
“Uncle Tom’s Traffic Stop; or, The Fugitive Slave Act, Racial Profiling and
Other Incidents of Over-Identification of People of Color with Criminal
Wrongdoing”
This seminar will delve into racial justice concerns raised in the play,
with some focus on the Fugitive Slave Act and the modern day phenomenon of
racial profiling.  Speakers will explore, compare, and contrast incidents of
historical and contemporary over-identification of certain individuals with
crime or illegality based on skin color.
Attorneys:  this seminar has been approved for continuing legal education
credit, $10 admission for CLE credit.
Free admission to the general public.



Friday, February 6 - 28
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727 (info at cptonline.org <mailto:info at cptonline.org>)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle
for Life
This production is a new adaptation of the classic story of a kindly slave
sustained by faith while tested by vicious cruelty, presented Thursdays,
Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
Admission ranges from $13-18

Saturday, February 7, 8:00 p.m.
Post-performance talkback
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727
Talkback leader:  Molly Weiser, Racial Fairness Project, and Dr. Rhonda
Williams, CWRU
Admission ranges from $13-18

Sunday, February 8, 3:00 p.m.
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727 (Jyana Gregory, jgregory at cptonline.org
<mailto:jgregory at cptonline.org>)
“Building Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
The cast and creative team behind Uncle Tom’s Cabin discusses the process of
working on the production.
Performance at 3:00 p.m., with panel discussion immediately following the
performance.
Admission ranges from $13-18

Wednesday, February 11, 7:00 p.m.
MOCA Cleveland as part of their MOCA Mix series
8501 Carnegie Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44106
216-421-8671 (Sarah Reinbolt, sreinbolt at mocacleveland.org
<mailto:sreinbolt at mocacleveland.org>)
MOCA Mix
Joining Theatre and Contemporary Art:  excerpts from CPT's production of
Uncle Tom's Cabin dramatically performed in the MOCA Commons. A panel
discussion led by a MOCA Curator and CPT artist follows the performance and
relates the work of “Material Witness” exhibition artist Johnny Coleman,
whose new installation at MOCA addresses issues of slavery, emancipation and
metaphorical transformation.
$5 General Admission
Free admission for MOCA Members and Uncle Tom's Cabin ticket holders.

Friday, February 13, 8:00 p.m.
Post-performance talkback
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727
Talkback leader:  Dr. Michael Williams, Director, Black Studies Program,
Cleveland State University
Admission ranges from $13-18




Saturday, February 14, 8:00 p.m.
Post-performance talkback
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727
Talkback leader:  TBD
Admission ranges from $13-18

Sunday, February 15, 1:00 p.m.
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
440-775-8152 (Caroline Jackson-Smith, caroline.jackson.smith at oberlin.edu
<mailto:caroline.jackson.smith at oberlin.edu>)
“Race and Representation:  The Long Shadow of Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
Oberlin College African-American history professor Jackson-Smith and Dr.
Rhonda Williams of Case Western Reserve University lead a panel discussion
on the issues of race and representation.
Performance at 3:00 p.m., with panel discussion immediately before the
performance from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Admission for panel is free (production at 3:00 p.m., admission required,
$13-15)

Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 p.m.
Trinity Cathedral
2230 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44115
216-774-0409 (Greg Jacobs)
“Religious Responses to Racial Injustice”
A panel discussion and excerpt from the play will discuss religious
responses to racial injustice.
Free admission

Wednesday, February 18, noon - 1:30 p.m.
The City Club of Cleveland
850 Euclid Ave
The City Club Building, 2nd Floor
Cleveland, OH  44114
216-621-0082 (info at cityclub.org <mailto:info at cityclub.org>)
"Where is Uncle Tom Today?"
This panel discussion will include issues of economic and social inclusion
and the way in which people may be marginalized as they assimilate into a
large organization-do they have to give up their cultural identity in order
to succeed?
Reservations are required (216-621-0082) Tickets are $13 for City Club
members, $18 general admission

Friday, February 20, 8:00 p.m.
Post-performance talkback
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727
Talkback leader:  Greg Jacobs, Canon, Trinity Cathedral
Admission ranges from $13-18








Saturday, February 21, 8:00 p.m.
Post-performance talkback
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727
Talkback leader:  TBD
Admission ranges from $13-18

Sunday, February 22, 3:00 p.m.
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-263-1850x70 (Daniel Gray-Kontar, kontar at urbandialect.net
<mailto:kontar at urbandialect.net>)
“Art and Politics”
This panel discussion will focus on the intersection of art and politics,
using Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a jumping-off point.
Performance at 3:00 p.m., with panel discussion immediately following the
performance.
Admission ranges from $13-18

Tuesday, February 24, 7:00 p.m.
Euclid Ave. Congregational Church
9606 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44106
Presented by Restore Cleveland Hope
216-761-8416 (Joan Southgate)
“Underground Railroad”
74-year-old Northeast Ohio resident Joan Southgate, who recently walked the
whole Underground Railroad, will lead a discussion on the Underground
Railroad.  The evening includes an excerpt from the play.
Free admission

Friday, February 27, 8:00 p.m.
Post-performance talkback
Cleveland Public Theatre
Gordon Square Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
216-631-2727
Talkback leader:  Sharon Dean, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of
Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, and Curator, Museum of
Natural History
Admission ranges from $13-18

Saturday, February 28, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
African American History Museum
1765 Crawford Rd.
Cleveland, OH  44106
Presented by Greater Cleveland Reparations Coalition
216-791-1700 (Stephanie Tolliver)
“Fire In Our Souls”
This panel discussion focuses on slavery and racism’s impact on the artistic
voice of the African-American.
Free admission






The American Classics Series
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN; or, the preservation of favoured races in the struggle
for life
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and others
Devised by Floraine Kay and Randolph Curtis Rand at Drama Dept.
Directed by Randolph Curtis Rand
February 6 - February 28, 2004
Gordon Square Theatre

“…a smart, stunningly inventive, new adaptation….”
“In terms of theatrical power it makes more than sense, it makes art.”
- The New York Times

150 years have passed since Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was
first published and time has not been kind. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is viewed as
overly sentimental propaganda. Its images (Eliza on the ice) and characters
(Uncle Tom and Topsy) were part of the popular culture, but over time became
misunderstood and misapplied.  What happened to the esteem and popularity
that kept it alive for a century?

Floraine Kay and Randolph Curtis Rand have adapted and reinterpreted this
novel for 21st century America. They examine the many layers of the story
with the keen eyes of dramatists, sociologists, and archeologists. Their
adaptation adds and combines writers as diverse as Woodrow Wilson, e. e.
cummings, and George Sand, and sources as varied as the 1852 stage play,
Stowe’s diaries, slave narratives, and the writings of Louis Gates Jr. and
Thomas Edison. By combining all of these uniquely American voices, they
manage to reveal the original urgency and political relevancy of the book’s
themes.

The impact of the novel and original stage versions were phenomenal.  The
entire first edition of the novel, 5000 copies total, was exhausted two days
after its publication in Boston on March 20, 1852.  Within a year 300,000
copies were sold in America and 150,000 in England.  Six months after the
book’s appearance, George L. Aiken’s now famous dramatization of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin opened in Troy, NY, and ran for 100 performances.  It then moved to
New York City’s National Theatre, where it played for 350 performances.  So
great were the crowds that, at one point, as many as four companies were
simultaneously performing Uncle Tom’s Cabin in New York, sometimes as many
as three shows a day.  It truly was America’s most popular play-for the next
eighty years, theatre companies throughout the country presented it each
season.  When he met Harriet Beecher Stowe at the White House, Abraham
Lincoln said, “So this is the little lady who started this big war.”

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is supported in part by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the John P. Murphy Foundation.  CPT is one of two
Ohio organizations to receive funding from the National Endowment for the
Arts this season.

The director of  Uncle Tom’s Cabin is co-adaptor Rand.  The cast includes
Cornelius Bethea, Nina Domingue (CPT’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas
Binge), Rhoda Rosen (Dobama’s V-E Day), David Loy, George Roth, Michael
Regnier (CPT’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge), G.A. Taggett (CPT’
s Discordia), Robert Williams, and Betsy Hogg (Broadway revival, The
Crucible).

Along with Rand, the creative team includes scenic design by Rodney Cuellar,
lighting design by Trad A Burns (CPT’s resident light designer), costume
design by Alison Hernan (CPT’s resident costume designer), production stage
management by Eileen Arnold (CPT’s Discordia), and directorial assistance by
Jyana S. Gregory (TCG Grant recipient, CPT associate artistic director).

Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle
for Life was originally produced by The Drama Department, NY, NY.

Each year, CPT devotes a production slot to a reexamination of an American
classic.  By turning to writers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Thornton
Wilder, Tennessee Williams, and Eugene O’Neill, opportunity is created to
look back and re-examine 19th and 20th century classics, to uncover their
deeper mysteries, explore their questions, and examine their forms, with the
goal of making these works live and breathe for today.

Cleveland Public Theatre and its artistic and education programs are funded
in part by funding from Cleveland Foundation, George Gund Foundation, Ohio
Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Nord Family Foundation, John
P. Murphy Foundation, Kulas Foundation, Theatre Communications Group, Doris
Duke Charitable Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Bruening
Foundation, Codrington Foundation, Giant Eagle Foundation, Thomas White
Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Lorain, Family Foundations of
Jewish Community Federation, Dolphin Trust, Saint Ann Foundation, Deaconess
Foundation, O’Neill Foundation, Stocker Foundation, Key Foundation, Nordson
Foundation, Wolf Foundation, The Doll Family Foundation, Raymond John Wean
Foundation, The Ellie Foundation, Cyrus Eaton Foundation, Forest City,
Alcoa, Third Federal, Huntington National Bank, National City Bank, and
other corporate and individual contributors.


Cleveland Public Theatre Fact Sheet
Production
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle
for Life
written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and others
devised by Floraine Kay and Randolph Curtis Rand at Drama Dept.

Artistic Staff
Director, Randolph Curtis Rand
Scenic Design, Rodney Cuellar
Lighting Design, Trad A Burns
Costume Design, Alison Hernan
Stage Manager, Eileen Arnold
Assistant Director, Jyana S. Gregory

Cast
Performer A: Cornelius Bethea
Performer B: Nina Domingue
Performer C: Rhoda Rosen
Performer D: David Loy
Performer E: George Roth
Italian Scientist 1: Michael Regnier
Italian Scientist 2: GA Taggett
Stage Hand 1: Robert Williams
Stage Hand 2: Betsy Hogg

Performance Dates and Times
Opening 		Friday, February 6, 2004	8:00 p.m.
Closing			Saturday, February 28, 2004	8:00 p.m.
Run			February 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28.
Times			Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.
			Sundays at 3:00 p.m.

Ticket Prices
Regular Admission Thursdays and Sundays $15; Fridays and Saturdays $18.
Students and Seniors Thursdays and Sundays $13; Fridays and Saturdays $15.



Dan Kilbane
Publicist
Cleveland Public Theatre
6415 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH  44102
tel:  216/631-2727 ext. 203
fax:  216/631-2575
www.cptonline.org
dkilbane at cptonline.org