UA Theatre & Dance examines social conversations with Separate and Equal.

UA Theatre & Dance examines social conversations with Separate and Equal.

UA Theatre & Dance invites you to a special preview of Separate and Equal in the Marian Gallaway Theatre, August 28-31 at 7:30 PM. The Department of Theatre & Dance is excited to present this special preview before its premiere Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters. Amid the tense atmosphere of Alabama in the Jim Crow era, two groups of teens-one black, one white-play a hypothetical game of basketball that would have been forbidden to them. Separate and Equal follows six young men on the very cusp of adulthood as they struggle to break free from a vicious cycle still evident in the way people communicate today.

Inspired by compelling personal recollections from the Oral History Project at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Separate and Equal is a provocative and immersive theatrical experience that explores the emotional violence of segregation through basketball. The visceral experience of the game comes through a dynamic hybrid of theater, modern dance, and sport, all performed to an original jazz soundtrack with the audience seated around the stage as if at an actual basketball game.
The cast features Pamela Afesi (“Ray Donovan,” “Daredevil”), Will Badgett (Faust Pt 1&2 at Classic Stage Company), Adrian Baidoo (On Striver’s Row at Metropolitan Playhouse), Ted Barton (The Man in the Iron Mask at Shakespeare Santa Cruz), Ross Birdsong (University of Alabama Alumnus), Steven Bono Jr. (Footfalls at The Kraine), Edwin Brown III, Jeremy Cox, Dylan Davis (University of Alabama Musical Theatre Student), James Holloway(The Men, dir. Jack Hofsiss, at Primary Stages), and Barbra Wengerd (Torch Song, dir. Moisés Kaufman, at Second Stage).

The design team includes Matthew Reynolds (production design) and Tiffany M. Yeager (costume design). The choreographer is Lawrence Jackson. Music composed by Tom Wolfe. The Production Stage Manager is Amanda Harris.

Seth Panitch’s (director/playwright) plays include Alcestis Ascending (Harold Clurman Theatre; Teatro Raquel Revuelta, Havana, Cuba); Hell: Paradise Found (59E59 Theaters); and Dammit Shakespeare! (Westbeth Theatre Center, Urban Stages). Seth has directed four productions of Shakespeare’s works in partnership with the Cuban National Office of Scenic Arts, multiple productions Off Broadway, and at Shakespeare Festivals across the country. His feature film Service to Man, released by Freestyle Entertainment Pictures, won the Grand Jury Prize at both the American Black Film Festival and the International Black Film Festival. Seth is a proud member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and the Dramatists Guild of America.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students/children. They are available in Rowand-Johnson Hall at the ticket office in the front lobby, by phone at (205) 348-3400 or online at ua.tix.com. Seating is limited.

For a full performance and event calendar, more information, and to sign up for a free newsletter, visit http://theatre.ua.edu.

About UA Theatre & Dance

The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance (UA Theatre & Dance) became a unified department in 1979. For the past 39 years, UA Theatre & Dance has produced student and faculty directed, performed and designed work. UA Theatre & Dance cultivates the next generation of performing arts professionals through comprehensive undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Visit theatre.ua.edu