[NEohioPAL] "The Rescue of John Price" - The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater Project

[Jeremy Benjamin]

*AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT IFA BAYEZA IS IN NORTHEAST OHIO WRITING AN
ORIGINAL DRAMA ABOUT THE HISTORICAL OBERLIN-WELLINGTON RESCUE THAT SHEDS
LIGHT ON THE JOURNEY, CHALLENGES, AND ULTIMATE FREEDOM OF RUNAWAY SLAVE
JOHN PRICE.*



As communities across the country, and in Northeast Ohio begin the many
celebrations surrounding Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the
emancipation of enslaved African Americans, nationally acclaimed
playwright, and novelist Ifa Bayeza is currently writing a drama, *The
Rescue of John Price, *and will premiere free readings with an accomplished
cast and crew at the Irene and Alan Wurtzel Theater at 67 Main Street on
the campus of Oberlin College, June 23, 24,25, 2023 at 7:00 pm.


Bayeza has been commissioned by The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater
Project founded by Pat Spitzer and her husband automotive business leader
Alan Spitzer to complete the play in 2024. Based on historical events, *The
Rescue of John Price *is about a runaway slave who in 1858 traveled from
Kentucky to the abolitionist sanctuary and utopian college town of Oberlin,
at the height of the frenzy over the Fugitive Slave Act. When slave
catchers threatened to kidnap John back into slavery, hundreds of Oberlin
and Wellington citizens led by a revolutionary group of rescuers prevented
his capture and helped him on his quest for true freedom.


“Through this distilled dramatization of the rescue of this one man from
the ravages of slavery, I hope that audiences will ponder today, the
pivotal role, the essential role, that African Americans have played in the
making of this nation and the fulfillment of its promise,” said Bayeza.
“That journey, from enslavement to freedom, which has been hard-fought and
is ongoing, has brought benefit to all lovers of democracy.”


Tony F. Sias, the CEO & President of the Karamu Performing Arts Center in
Cleveland is the director of the anticipated drama and the staged readings.
“*The Rescue of John Price *is not just entertainment,” said Sias. “It’s
about educating the community about this historically seminal moment in
time.”


Bayeza is also educating the community by conducting several workshops,
discussions, interviews, and a host of other activities, She also hopes to
get feedback about her work thus far. On Monday, June 19, the official
Juneteenth Holiday, there will be a “Conversation with Ifa” at the Burrell
House in Sheffield, Ohio Metroparks. This landmark is the last known
location where John Price stayed before being whisked to freedom in Canada.


The event is hosted by The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater Project and
the Lorain County Racial Equity Center and the African American Fund, an
affiliate fund of the Community Foundation of Lorain County.


Considering our current cultural climate, Bayeza added that we can all
learn from *The Rescue of John Price. *“The respectful and earnest
collaboration of Oberliners, white and black, men and women, old and young
in creating what was almost a utopia, one that we struggle to envision even
today, is central to this story – people of all backgrounds, persuasions,
and experiences, living and working together for the progress of all.”


Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater Project Co-Founder Pat Spitzer conceived
the idea of creating a play about a historic event even 30 years ago and is
thrilled Bayeza is bringing that vision to life. “For progress to be made,
we must work together. “I think people want to walk the walk with this
history. I would just like to see the day when everybody wants to help
everybody. That’s the ultimate goal.”

*Free tickets* for *The Rescue of John Price *Staged Readings are available
on the website, owrproject.org or through Eventbrite. For other community
events, go to: owrproject.org/events


*ABOUT IFA BAYEZA *

Ifa Bayeza is an award-winning playwright, director, novelist and educator.
Plays include THE TILL TRILOGY *(The Ballad of Emmett Till, That Summer in
Sumner *and *Benevolence)*; *String Theory*; *Welcome to Wandaland*; *Infants
of the Spring*; the musicals *Charleston Olio*, *Bunk Johnson … a blues
poem *and *KID ZERO *and the novel, *Some Sing, Some Cry*, co-authored with
her sister Ntozake Shange. A finalist for the 2020 Herb Alpert Award in
Theatre and for the 2020 Francesca Primus Prize, Bayeza is the recipient of
two commissions from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a
2022 MacDowell fellowship. Bayeza holds an MFA in Theater from UMass
Amherst and is a graduate of Harvard University. The TILL TRILOGY *(The
Ballad of Emmett Till, That Summer in Sumner, *and *Benevolence*) made its
world premiere, in rotating repertory, at Mosaic Theatre Company of DC in
October 2022.
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