Victory Gardens continues its season with The Gospel According to James

May 2, 2011
Victory Gardens Biograph Theater

Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Executive Director Jan Kallish announce the Chicago Premiere of The Gospel According to James by Charles Smith, directed by Chuck Smith. The Gospel According to James runs May 14-June 12, 2011, at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park.

In 1930 in Indiana, the dangerous energy around a group of teenagers desperate to break out of their small town results in a shocking double lynching. When the two sole survivors meet years later, very different versions of what happened down that lonely country road begin to emerge. Inspired by the infamous true story, The Gospel According to James considers America's tangled feelings about the racism and sexism of our shared past-and our responsibility to honestly accept who we are so we can face the future together.

As The Gospel According to James dramatizes the events leading up to the crime, it also explores how unreliable personal memory underlies what we believe to be an immutable public history. Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble Member Charles Smith's The Gospel According to James comes to Victory Gardens straight from its world premiere this spring at Indiana Repertory Theatre, where it captivated audiences with its powerful story of redemption.

"As I read A Lynching in the Heartland, I knew that writing a play based upon the events surrounding that night in 1930 would present a unique set of challenges. There was one thing I knew for sure from the beginning, without question. I knew that I did not want to reproduce the lynching on stage," comments playwright Charles Smith. "The lynching is only the starting point. Ultimately, the play is about redemption, forgiveness and about the ferocious power that one's memory has to project on the individual. The play is about us, here today, and about how we choose to face tomorrow."

The cast is led by Emmy winner and multiple Tony nominee Andre De Shields (James) and includes Kelsey Brennan (Mary), Wardell Julius Clark (Tommy Shipp), Linda Kimbrough (Marie), Diane Kondrat (Bea Ball), Christopher Jon Martin (Hoot Ball), and Tyler Jacob Rollinson (Abe Smith) and Nick Vidal (Claude).

The designers are Linda Buchanan (Set), Rachel Healy (Costumes), Kathy Perkins (Lighting), Ray Nardelli (Sound). Tina Jach is the Stage Manager.