‘Every 28 Hours’ Puts Black Lives Matter’s Stories On Stage
In this July 8, 2016, photo, a man holds up a sign saying “black lives matter” during a protest of shootings by police, in Washington by the White House. When it comes to picking a new president, young people in America are united in saying education is what matters most. But there’s a wide split … Continued
Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press
The Atlanta theater community has proved itself to be committed to the cause of social justice for years, and next week, it joins theaters around the country in producing not one, but 75 plays inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The title comes from the widely shared and contested statistic that a black person is killed by the police every 28 hours. The show originated as a partnership between the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the One-Minute Play Festival in 2014 following the protests in Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting death of Michael Brown. The production has since been taken on by theater companies across the country.
Actors Express artistic director Freddie Ashley explains that the theater came to the project through their relationship with the One Minute Play Festival, which Actors Express has been associated with for about five years. But when the idea came along to take on this production, Ashley says that it “didn’t make sense” to go it alone.
“I thought we really needed to partner with artists and organizations around the city to make sure that it really was a community-driven event,” he says. “Every 28 Hours” is being produced in collaboration with the Atlanta University Consortium and the Alliance Theatre.
“We’re doing theater, but this theater is just a catalyst for protest,” says Dr. Shondrika Moss-Bouldin, one of many directors working on putting the 75 one-minute-long plays onstage. And though the project is focused on the struggles and lives of people of color, she says that all of Atlanta is welcome.
“We cannot have real true change,” Moss-Bouldin says, “unless everyone takes part.”
“Every 28 Hours” is onstage at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, Monday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
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