Provoking performance asks ‘What do YOU see?’
By Kim Chiomento, News Editor, The Times
A vignette featuring Rosa Parks’ refusal to relinquish her bus seat
KENNETT SQUARE – Students from the Technical College High School (TCHS) and Kennett High School (KHS) experienced Walnut Street Theater’s Martin and Malcom – How Long Must We Wait? a moving, thought provoking production that explores the history of, and influences upon, race relations.
The show is one several Walnut Street Theatre’s Touring Outreach Company’s productions. Actors performed powerful vignettes from pivotal moments in US history including Rosa Parks refusing to relinquish her bus seat, Trayvon Martin shooting, Malcom X speeches, to the moments of how students really see each other every day.
Students take time to discuss the show and a career in the performing arts with one of the actors.
A pervasive theme was where does the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King stand today, and why are we not seeing each other equally? Actors challenged the audience to “Take a look at me…what do you really see?” while cautioning, “Be sure what you see does not make you foolish when you find out the truth about what makes me who I am.”
Students were captivated as they were presented with difficult, and at times, uncomfortable scenarios regarding stereotyping, affirmative action’s merits and challenges, the role of the Confederate Flag as both a historical symbol and one of black repression, to how a classmate’s appearance may set someone up for complete misunderstanding and hurtful stereotyping.
Martin and Malcom also shed light upon the various influences shaping peoples’ perspectives on events; and, those influences were portrayed as equally as important as the events themselves.
The performance was coordinated and hosted by KHS’ Assistant Principal, Dr. Tomorrow Jenkins. The Kennett Consolidated School District takes pride in the diversity represented within its student body; and Dr. Jenkins remarked, “I am delighted that today’s show captured not only what we are teaching in KHS curriculum, but also what we are experiencing in the news. It is very relevant.”
Martin and Malcom concluded with a student body enthusiastically cheering the performance.
Following the show, KHS senior, Marisa Maxwell, shared with The Times “I think this show made everyone step back and think; it was GREAT. From what I could see, I think everyone really liked it and my friends had really positive things to say about this powerful experience.”
For more information on the Walnut Street Theater’s Outreach Company visit: www.walnutstreettheatre.org/education/touring-season-14-15.php
