Sinclair presents poignant ‘Song for Coretta’ drama
Sinclair Community College presents Pearl Cleage’s poignant, award-winning drama “A Song for Coretta” Saturday, March 4 on the Blair Hall stage.
A fictional account based on a true event, the play is set on Feb. 6, 2006, outside Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church where a throng of people began lining up to pay their respects to the late Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and an Antioch College alumna. At the end of the long line of mourners are five African-American women reflecting on Coretta’s inspiration as they coped with real-life issues including pregnancy, abortion, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“I can’t speak highly enough about the spirit of this piece,” said director Kimberly Borst, who staged an atmospheric “Dracula” for Sinclair earlier this season. “The story speaks to Coretta’s influence particularly after the Civil Rights Movement, but her legacy continues to be influential today. She was more than just Martin Luther King, Jr.’s wife. She was a force in her own right. She stood by her husband, but she was also the heart, the face of grace, for the Civil Rights Movement. This play speaks to why Coretta was so important.”
“I definitely feel like Coretta’s legacy still resonates today because of what she stood for,” echoed ShaLemar Davis, who previously appeared in Sinclair’s productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “As It Is In Heaven.”
“She gave the world a
IF YOU GO
“A Song for Coretta” Blair Hall Theatre, Building 2, Sinclair Community College, 444 W. Third St., Dayton. 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday. $8 in advance; $10 at the door. Call 937-512-2808 or visit sinclair. edu/tickets
A 20-minute selection from the show will be performed Friday, March 3 in Blair Hall as part of the NIA Awards “celebrating leadership and good deeds with the purpose of uplifting African-American students on campus or citizens throughout the Miami Valley.” sense of resilience that is always relevant and necessary. People should see this show because its message transcends the boundaries of the given circumstances. There is something everyone can relate to in each of these women. It’s amazing to watch how something so broad can connect (the characters) when they are so different.”
Made possible through a Sinclair Cultural Diversity Grant, “A Song for Coretta” notably toured local schools in celebration of Black History Month including Stivers School for the Arts and Thurgood Marshall High School. The cast includes Bryana Bentley, Erin McGee, Erin Waldon, and Sinclair English faculty member Furaha Henry-Jones.
“This production has come together in a beautiful way,” Borst said. “It was great for me to set the direction, but it was also great to receive an education from the cast on many aspects of African-American culture from church to hair. Touring the show was an experiment and I view it as a successful one because the students, particularly young ladies, were hearing stories that relate to them. And this cast tells this story beautifully.”