Award-winning local playwright looking to partner with a venue for an original black history month play to be produced on agreed dates in February. Playwright will cast and direct. SYNOPSIS THE HIGH ROAD The play is set in the parlor of a mansion on a cotton plantation in Alabama in February of 1860, the year before the start of the Civil War. James Forsythe, age twenty-five, has just returned from studying in the North after the sudden death of his mother. When informed that his father is dying and that he must take over the plantation, he forces a moral dilemma. He has come to believe that slavery is wrong and determines to free his slaves. When Benjamin, his chief slave, makes him realize that the slaves are bound more by their lack of education than their chains, James determines to bring in a teacher to educate the slaves before they are freed. He recruits a teacher, Eve, with whom he falls in love. James faces challenges by the other plantation owners who employ various economic measures and finally resort to threats of violence to attempt to ensure that James is not successful. With the common sense, savvy and help of Benjamin and the surprising wisdom of his "simple" Aunt Emily he is able to sell his crop and free the slaves. The play contains much historically accurate information about the Underground Railroad and pioneer African-Americans in the fields of law, religion, medicine and politics before the Civil War. The play also provides insights into the economics of slavery and the interrelationships of plantation owners, slaves and sharecroppers. The play makes the point that only through education can a person really be free to pursue his dreams. Any number of African-Americans can be utilized to sing spirituals at the close of the first act and at intermission. Any number of African-Americans can participate in the slave house scene and any number of African-American children can participate in the school scene. NO SET REQUIRED CONTACT GREGORY J. LAVELLE AT lavellearb@aim.com or at (440) 724-4538.