From Oct. 15 to 18, Premiere Stages is back with their first live program of the Fall 2020 semester! To be hosted in an outdoor tent outside of Liberty Hall, Premiere will be putting on Cheryl L. West’s new play, Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak On It!, directed by Marshall Jones III.
Premiere Stages works with Kean University to provide the Kean community with performances that help to educate students on local history as well as explore other cultures.
The play is a powerful piece that speaks to spirituality, public unrest and freedom of speech. The play centers around Fannie Lou Hamer as she leads a rally to fight for voting and racial equality.
Hamer's empowering and influential public displays have sharply affected history and had much to do with the change that began to occur during the 1960s. Her message is as relevant as ever today. Many of the issues she fought for are still being fought for, and the importance of voting and letting one's voice be heard is stronger that ever.
The mind behind this work, Cheryl L. West, has a long resume of success, her plays appearing not only on Broadway, but all over the world. Her plays include: Shout Sister, Shout!, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963, Fannie, Last Stop on Market Street, Akeelah and the Bee, Pullman Porter Blues, Motherhood Out Loud (co-authored); Addie, American Girl Story (21-city tour); and Jar the Floor. She has written TV and film projects at Disney, Paramount, MTV Films, Showtime, TNT, HBO and CBS, and the original web series Diary of a Single Mom.
This 60 minute experience will take place with no intermission and will run at the outdoor tent at the Liberty Hall Museum, on the Kean University Main Campus in Union. Performances will take place Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are limited to 70 seats per performance and will cost $20 standard. There is a 4 ticket limit per transaction, and addresses for all attendees is required at the time of purchase. Tickets must be purchased in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door. All attendees are required to wear masks throughout the entire production, and seats will be arranged with social distancing guidelines in place. Only those who travel together will be able to sit together.
Premiere Stages and the Liberty Hall Museum will offer supplemental activities, including exhibits and Q & As, as part of the experience. To learn more and to purchase tickets, please visit the Premiere Stages website. Assistive listening devices and sign-interpretation are available upon request; please call (908) 737-4077 at least two weeks prior to your desired performance.
For more information on voting, students can click the link to get registered and get notified about voting in their area. Also be sure to revisit The Cougar's Byte article on voter registration!
