Cleveland Public Theatre carves out powerful ‘Lines in the Dust’ Bob Abelman Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal Member, International Association of Theatre Critics “The people came out of their houses and smelled the hot stinging air and covered their noses from it…. The men were silent and they did not move often. And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men – to feel whether this time the men would break…. The children peeked at the faces of the men and women, and then drew careful lines in the dust with their toes…. Then they asked, Whta'll we do?” This excerpt from John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” lays bare the quiet desperation of poor families driven from their homes by drought, dust and the economic hardship of the 1930s. And it shows us the things despondent people will do to survive with dignity. “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” This excerpt comes from George Wallace’s Inaugural Address, delivered in 1963 following his election as Governor. And it shows us the things defensive people will do to keep others from surviving with dignity. Crossing a dividing line in the dust that separates a better life from those who desire it is a high risk endeavor, regardless of whether it is drawn in the dead corn fields of Depression-era Oklahoma, the cold concrete portico of the Civil Rights-era Alabama State Capitol building or – as demonstrated in Nikkole Salter's 2014 play – in the war zone classrooms of contemporary Newark, New Jersey. For more of this review, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/.