‘The Till Trilogy’ Sheds New Light on History, Issues a Call to Action

The buzz continues throughout the greater Washington area as more people experience the riveting three-play event, “The Till Trilogy,” now on stage through Nov. 20 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Northeast, performed in rotating repertory and presented by Mosaic Theater Company.  

The trilogy of works includes: “The Ballad of Emmett Till,” “That Summer in Sumner” and “Benevolence.”

Written by Ifa Bayeza and directed by Talvin Wilks, Mosaic Theater’s artistic director, Reginald L. Douglas, referred to the series of plays as “a testament to the power of theater to interrogate our past, provide insight into the world around us and inspire action and empathy as we look ahead.”

Playwright, Ifa Bayeza

In fact, the playwright’s work, which focuses on the brief life and tragic murder of Emmett Till in 1955 in Money, Mississippi, sheds new light on history while calling us to action today.

Bayeza said the evolution of the work might be best described as “organic.”

“My first effort, ‘The Ballad of Emmett Till,’ when it was performed in Chicago in 2008, had wonderful moments and achieved many things but something wasn’t right to me,” she said. “I was trying to stuff too much into one play. The story was so full and rich that I couldn’t get everything in.”

“When a colleague at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles wanted to bring the ‘Ballad’ to the city, I knew that the venue was too small for the play and the ensemble. So, I began to explore how to make it manageable for small theaters. I truncated the play to just be Emmett’s story, following his journey the last seven days of his life and into the netherworld as well where he attempts to understand what has happened to him. It made it a much stronger play,” she said.  

Bayeza, while pleased with the success of “Ballad” and the two other plays that would follow, said she began the process because she wanted to highlight the details behind a youth’s rite of passage – tragically aborted because of the intrusion of white violence.

In the second and third parts of the trilogy, she also gave attention to Mose Wright, Emmett’s uncle, who witnessed the youth’s abduction and who later testified in court against the accused murders, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam – an act which placed his life and the lives of his family in grave danger.

She also brought greater attention to the corps of reporters from the Black press, specifically members of Ebony and Jet, who attended the trial and shared the details with readers across the nation.

As Bayeza said, it remains a story that we can ill-afford to forget.

“The Till saga is a national foundational myth,” she said. “It’s a story for now – it’s always a timely story. We continue to return to it because we must. This story had so many crossroads of experience from the assassinations of the Kennedys to being the spark of the Civil Rights Movement to being the synergy and beginning of social music phases and genres like rock and roll.”

“My hope as an artist is that this story will serve as a means of healing and an acknowledgement of so many others who have endured trauma over the generations. It has a poetic resonance that allows for the inclusion of numerous manifestations of symbolism that I explore throughout the three plays.”

“ Ultimately, I wanted the trilogy to lift up others, especially mothers like Mamie Till, who are still going through similar forms of trauma and the loss of children either to urban or police violence. Before we can return to battle for justice and lead the next form of protest, we must experience the grief so the healing process can begin,” Bayeza said.

“The Till Trilogy” continues through Nov. 20. For more information, go to www.mosiactheater.org.

Article by D. Kevin McNeir, for the Washington Informer.

Mosaic Theater’s ‘Till Trilogy’ arrives with uncanny timeliness

Decades in the making, a trio of plays celebrates the life of the murdered Black teen Emmett Till and commemorates his tragic 1955 death.

Antonio Michael Woodard as Emmett Till in “The Ballad of Emmett Till.” (Teresa Castracane)

When playwright Ifa Bayeza set out in the late 1990s to tell the story of Emmett Till — the Black 14-year-old who was abducted and lynched by two White men in 1955 Mississippi — the United States was still recovering from a crack epidemic that disproportionately affected African American communities. In reflecting on Till, Bayeza says she wanted to “pull our own youth back from that brink, to say, ‘We have to see ourselves as human beings.’ ”

Ifa Bayeza, Playwright

The result was “The Ballad of Emmett Till,” a celebration of Till’s life and retelling of his tragic death that premiered at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in 2008. Now an updated version of that play is onstage at Mosaic Theater in repertory with two more Till-centric works from Bayeza: “Benevolence,” which debuted at Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, Minn., in 2019, and the world premiere of “That Summer in Sumner.”

Together, the three plays — all directed by Talvin Wilks and drawing from the same 10-person cast — make up “The Till Trilogy.” While the drug epidemic that prompted the project is mercifully in the past, the social justice movement’s resurgence and the corresponding conversation over how to teach Black American history have punctuated the subject matter’s importance in newfound ways.

“It feels particularly timely,” Bayeza says, referring to Till’s murder — often credited with sparking the civil rights movement. “But it is, unfortunately, timeless.”

“The plays show why it is of value to understand our history and to witness it,” Wilks adds, “because these stories in many ways are still suppressed and repressed.”

Although the original production of “Ballad” was a sprawling, 2½-hour history play, Bayeza streamlined it into a 90-minute chamber piece for a 2010 production at Los Angeles’s Fountain Theatre. The distillation improved “Ballad,” Bayeza says, but she still found herself bothered by the scenes that she cut.

Anna Theoni DiGiovanni, left, and Scott Ward Abernethy as Carolyn and Roy Bryant in “Benevolence.” (Teresa Castracane)

So Bayeza revisited some of that excised material, expanded on it and wrote “Benevolence,” a decades-spanning examination of Till’s legacy through the eyes of two couples — one Black, one White — grappling with his death. Earlier this year, she completed work on a third play, also derived from trimmed “Ballad” scenes: “That Summer in Sumner,” which explores the Till murder trial and the Black journalists who covered the case.

“The trilogy really evolved from my commitment to telling this sacred story as best I could,” Bayeza says, “and to represent it with the epic fullness that it felt like to me.”

Wilks directed a 2014 version of “Ballad” at Penumbra Theatre before returning there to helm the “Benevolence” premiere. In mounting the full trilogy, he has reimagined those productions so that all three plays work in harmony, while still functioning as stand-alone stories. Bayeza also massaged the plays’ through lines by tweaking the scripts throughout the rehearsal process.

“I learned a lot having directed those first two plays,” Wilks says. “There’s a foundation there. But thinking of them in tandem sort of is a whole new game. New collaborators, new artistry, new innovation, but also — I’ll say it — limitations. The framework brings a kind of limiting factor to how you uniquely envision each play.”

The Mosaic production has been a long time coming: Wilks and the “Till Trilogy” company were a month into rehearsal in the spring of 2020 when pandemic closures put the endeavor on hold. Since then, real-world developments have deepened the plays’ resonance, from the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 to the Emmett Till Antilynching Act that President Biden signed into law earlier this year.

“It had already felt really relevant,” says Billie Krishawn, who plays six characters — including Till’s mother, Mamie — across the three plays. “But then the world shut down and the events throughout the pandemic happened, with Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and countless names that I couldn’t even begin to list off and do it justice. Then I felt even deeper inside of the movement.”

Front seat, from left: Jaysen Wright and Vaughn Ryan Midder; back seat, from left: Scott Ward Abernethy and Rolonda Watts play journalists from Ebony and Jet magazine in “That Summer in Sumner.” (Teresa Castracane)

Krishawn wasn’t alone in forging an intimate connection with Till’s story. Antonio Michael Woodard, who portrays Till in two of the plays, says he was making deliveries for DoorDash in his hometown of Oakland, Calif., when a man in an affluent neighborhood confronted him on the street and screamed a racial slur at him. “That ran through my body in a particular way,” Woodard recalls. With Till on his mind, he says, he kept his calm.

“You want to do something, but in this society, if I was to do something, I’d be in the wrong,” Woodard says. “Literally the next day, I kid you not, I got the offer to play Emmett Till. That’s how I know I’m interconnected and I have a mission. I’m on assignment to do this, because I don’t believe I would have gone through that for no reason.”

For the predominantly Black cast, the production’s challenges go beyond the creative and logistical burdens of playing various characters over multiple plays. There’s also the matter of processing the traumatic material. To help the Black actors navigate that challenge, Wilks says, the production has used mental health advisers and a fight and intimacy director.

“We have to be mindful of that wonderful, generous and courageous spirit,” Wilks says. “These actors are stepping into these roles to share these stories for a community still witnessing and wrestling and reckoning with this history.”

That history is still evolving. This past August, a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White woman whose accusation of a sexual advance led to Till’s lynching, on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, despite the discovery of an unserved warrant for her arrest. And “The Till Trilogy” isn’t alone in presenting an artistic depiction of Till’s story: The film “Till,” which tracks Mamie Till’s pursuit of justice following her son’s death, arrives in theaters this week.

“I do see the Till saga as a national foundation myth, really looking in an epic and poetic way at how the fault line of race cuts across geography, cuts across gender, cuts across class, cuts across politics and the law,” Bayeza says. “It’s like a flash of lightning in that so many elements come together in this tragedy of Emmett Till that it speaks to the time — whenever that time is.”

If you go

The Till Trilogy

Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE. 202-399-7993, ext. 501. mosaictheater.org.

Dates: Through Nov. 20.

Prices: $50-$64 per play.

Review by Thomas Floyd for the Washington Post.

MAD by Sarah Bierstock to be Read at the Inaugural Fall Reading Series of The Contemporary American Theater Festival

The Contemporary American Theater Festival will be presenting its inaugural Fall Reading Series. For over thirty years, the professional new play festival held performances in July. This is the first time the festival will offer programming outside of its traditional summer season.

Peggy McKowen, appointed as the festival’s Producing Artistic Director last year, selected the plays. “I was looking for plays that felt fresh – exploring themes and styles CATF has not recently produced.”

Sarah Bierstock

The plays produced in the Fall Reading Series are under consideration for CATF’s 2023 July season, which will be McKowen’s first season of curating the festival’s summer repertory.

The plays in the Fall Reading Series are: Spiritus/ Virgil’s Dance by Dael Orlandersmith; Our Shrinking Shrinking World by Richard Dresser; MAD by Sarah Bierstock; Your Name Means Dream by José Rivera; and Lavender Men by Roger Q. Mason

“These plays have some laughs, something we all need right now. But, they also have a strong sense of purpose about life,” said McKowen.

Readings will take place between October 21 and November 5 and will take place at the Marinoff Theater on the campus of Shepherd University, which hosts CATF, and at the Old Opera House in Charles Town, WV.

Audience members can determine their own admission price, with a suggested amount of $10.

For the full schedule, to make reservations, and for more information about the Contemporary American Theater Festival’s Fall Reading Series, visit CATF online at catf.org.

It’s Officially Till Trilogy Week in DC !

Playwright Ifa Bayeza holds a proclamation given by the DC City Council and Chairman Phil Mendelson designating the second week of October as The Till Trilogy Week.

Mayor, City Council Proclamations Designate Till Trilogy Week in Washington, DC

Over the weekend, we were honored to have members of Congress, City government, the Till family, and Mosaic supporters experience The Till Trilogy together. Mayor Muriel Bowser awarded a proclamation to Mosaic and the City Council and Chairman Phil Mendelson formally named this week “The Till Trilogy Week” in the District of Columbia.

Join us to see these potent, important works.

Marvin Bowser, brother of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, reads a statement from the Mayor acknowledging the  admirable work of playwright Ifa Bayeza and Mosaic Theater to stage The Till Trilogy in the nation’s capital. 
Ifa Bayeza accepts a proclamation from the DC City Council naming the second week of October The Till Trilogy Week.

Embracing Arlington Arts Releases EMMETT TILL TRILOGY AND RACIAL JUSTICE Education Podcast Series

Four Mosaic Theater Company partners making this exciting premiere of a rotating repertory production of the Emmett Till Trilogy of plays.

The non-profit organization Embracing Arlington Artss has released its “Emmett Till Trilogy and Racial Justice – Theaters Keeping the Conversation Going” four-part Educational Podcast Series.

Four Mosaic Theater Company partners making this exciting premiere of a rotating repertory production of the Emmett Till Trilogy of plays (“The Ballad of Emmett Till,” “That Summer in Sumner,” and “Benevolence”) possible were interviewed for the podcast.

“This latest Embracing Arlington Arts Educational Podcast Series focuses not only on the premiere, but also to embellish and continue the conversation about racial justice in our nation today and to discuss how the theater industry is, and should be spurring those discussions,” stated Janet Kopenhaver, the organization’s president.

Playwright, Ifa Bayeza

The Educational Podcast series features renowned playwright Ifa Bayeza who wrote all three plays; Talvin Wilks, Director; Reginald Douglas, Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company; and Antonio Michael Woodard, Actor (portraying Emmett Till). All four expressed their views and insight on the continued impact of this critical event in our country’s history and the responsibility of the theater industry to keep the conversation going.

Ms. Bayeza wrote this series of plays to “celebrate the joy and majesty of this family.” She is hoping to challenge our contemporary audiences to think about what we are going to do to end racial injustice. “If the Till saga was the spark of the Civil Rights movement, I hope to stimulate sparks in audience members to do something,” she concluded in the interview.

Mr. Wilks offered resounding support for the importance of the media in bringing visibility to the injustices of racism, but questions “why does it take an image to gain people’s attention?” He also expounded upon why these plays are important to see in order to understand the significant impact of the Emmett Till murder in our nation’s history.

As Mosaic Theater Company’s Artistic Director, Mr. Douglas expressed his strong belief that the theater industry plays a big role in spurring audience members to become active and energized about combating racial injustice. “I do think that art is action,” Douglas explained. “It sparks dialogue about our community, makes people think and to take action,” Douglas added.

Rounding out the series was a very thought-provoking interview with Actor Antonio Michael Woodard who portrays Emmett Till. To him, theater has always been a catalyst for change and an instrument to encourage conversations about important social issues in our nation. He urged audience members to see the plays to understand what happened in 1955 and to ensure that it never happens again. “You can’t get where you’re going until you look back,” he concluded.

The Till Trilogy is a series of plays by noted playwright Ifa Bayeza that reflect on the life, death, and legacy of Emmett Till, whose murder in 1955 remains one of the most pivotal moments in American history. Under the direction of the acclaimed Talvin Wilks, the three plays – The Ballad of Emmett Till, Benevolence, and the world premiere That Summer in Sumner – will star 10 actors performing in rotating repertory for the first time. Filled with music, poetry, and imagination, this rare theatrical event will honor the ongoing fight for racial justice in our country and offer audiences of all ages an opportunity for collective reckoning, reflection, and response. Mosaic Theater Company of DC produces bold, culturally diverse theater that illuminates critical issues, elevates fresh voices, and sparks connection among communities throughout our region and beyond.

Embracing Arlington Arts is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the vibrancy and health of arts and culture. Interested supporters are encouraged to “follow” and “like” us on Facebook; and follow us on Twitter.

For more information, contact Janet Kopenhaver at janetk@embracing-arlington-arts.org