In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till from Chicago was visiting his cousins in Mississippi when he was abducted and lynched for whistling at a white woman named Carolyn Bryant.
“His mother, when she came to find out this horrible death occurred, she said I want the world to see, so the Black journalist from Jet magazine published the picture of that open casket,” Mosaic Theater Artistic Director Reginald Douglas told WTOP. “Just like the George Floyd video, it humanized racial injustice in a way that people couldn’t look away.”
Now, you won’t be able to look away from Mosaic Theater’s “The Till Trilogy,” written by Ifa Bayeza and directed by Talvin Wilks at Atlas Performing Arts Center now through Nov. 20.
“It’s a [trilogy] that reckons with our history, where we’ve been as a country, and allows us to reflect on where we are now,” Douglas said. “We hope that audiences leave the theater revisiting this moment from 1955, but realizing its reverberations today, how the echoes of history are yet alive with the Black Lives Matter movement, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor.”
The first play “The Ballad of Emmett Till” chronicles his life. “We are so honored to be presenting the D.C. premiere of this beautiful work,” Douglas said. “Six Black actors take on 30 or 40 characters, so it’s a real theatrical tour-de-force. It is the story of the boy. So much of the history books focus on his death; Ifa did a ton of research to focus on his life.”
The second play “That Summer in Sumner” is a world premiere covering the trial. “You go to the courtroom, you go to the witness stand, you get to see the trial come to life, as well as the back deals that unfortunately also plagued the fight for justice,” Douglas said.
The third play “Benevolence” examines Till’s legacy. “It focuses on two couples, one White, one Black, and how the Till murder is affecting them,” Douglas said. “One of those couples is Carolyn Bryant, the accuser, and her family. We see how this moment in 1955 shows up later. If you’re following the news lately, the warrant for her arrest was found this year.”
In addition to the three plays, Mosaic Theater is also partnering with Ford’s Theatre for a virtual conversation on Oct. 20 with the Department of Justice about the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act passed by Congress earlier this year making lynching a federal offense.
“We’re thrilled to have the support of the Till family, who will actually becoming to see the plays this fall,” Douglas said. “We believe the plays you see on stage can ignite your heart and mind. … While the material can be harrowing, it is also hope-filled. We believe these plays, all three together, can inspire audiences to think, engage and come together.”
Learn more about “The Till Trilogy” here.
Listen to our full conversation here.
