[NEohioPAL] Destination Freedom: An Evening of African American Radio Plays Tickets on Sale Now!

[Margaret Reardon]

*Radio on the Lake Theatre* <http://www.radioonthlakthatr.org>, Northeast
Ohio's only professional theater company exclusively dedicated to the audio
arts, is thrilled to announce the start of its new live radio play series.
The Audio Gallery Series at Negative Space will spotlight classic and
contemporary audio drama with actors and sound effects artists bringing
great stories to life, thanks to generous grants from the Ohio Arts Council
and the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation. This fall, three plays
will be performed at the Negative Space Art Gallery, located at 3820
Superior Avenue, 2nd Floor, in Cleveland's Asia Town district.



The first play in the new series is* Destination Freedom: An Evening of
African American Radio Plays
<https://www.wwfm.org/show/a-tempo-with-rachel-katz/2025-08-18/radio-theatre-includes-1940s-dramas-highlighting-african-americans-in-upcoming-season>*
on September 11 at 7:30 pm. Between 1948 and 1950, a radio series
called *Destination
Freedom* aired on WMAQ, a local Chicago NBC station. Richard Durham
created *Destination
Freedom* in an attempt to profile significant African American historical
figures and their contributions to American democracy and freedom. Durham
was an African American journalist, poet, dramatist, labor organizer, and
one-time Communist Party member, who began his career as part of the
Writer’s Project of the WPA and later worked as a writer for *The Chicago
Defender.* In an era when African Americans were increasingly visible in
the arts, though not always in positive roles, Durham’s scripts
attempted to reclaim a triumphant narrative of African American history.
Two of Durham’s scripts – *Railway to Freedom* and *The Death of Aesop* –
will be performed on September 11. The plays will be followed by a
discussion of the life and work of Richard Durham and the legacy of African
American radio plays in this country.



*“**It is an honor to team with Radio on the Lake to bring Richard Durham’s
Destination Freedom plays back to life as live radio theatre”, said the
play’s director Darelle Hill. “Both Railway to Freedom and The Death of
Aesop celebrate voices that refused to be silenced; Harriet Tubman, whose
courage reshaped history, and Aesop, whose perceptive yet humorous wit
challenged power. My hope is that people leave inspired, entertained, and
reminded of the courage it takes to speak up”.*



Tickets for the Audio Gallery Series at Negative Space are $15, and are on
sale now on *Eventbrite
<https://sjuvgy5ab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Vh8ktXpY5da9-smPVzzjEJommbe6FXVVINzgxo-M8aJx6IX_Hcb6J_yg431Ds6HgL89NV8B1Xvea1sH2uTAXYTzRRAXwUnA0ntXD8FP-gVR35U1Dqe95sV92G-PGzm2r3pHDYxRVMdjt1o-8dQm8jBwgMF0cPDXXcm8s8ZWzswFIZoc7eVzLIE75HolNJrx_HY8EYYl_Q87e5tkucrdalckTyDPxuTSSlNvPk_slQqo=&c=mGUXb1jef8OSCD8P9GHV_Y228ZaT-wrsUuCuv9pn0fZxaG5REgB9DA==&ch=cnXa8Ju0WPvShR3K150zEHTN36tgftMjpS4tPxzP3kGLnlolhzQ5og==>.
*


For more information about the series and Radio on the Lake Theatre, please
send an email to info at radioonthelaketheatre.org.


-- 



Margaret Reardon | she/her

Development Coordinator

Radio on the Lake Theatre

(216) 802 8595

radioonthelaketheatre.org <https://www.radioonthelaketheatre.org/>
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