For Immediate Release: March 14, 2007
Media Contact: Christine Barbush, People's Light & Theatre Company, 610.647.1900 x103

People’s Light & Theatre Company will host a special panel discussion on Monday, April 2 at 7pm on the Mainstage. The discussion is titled A Real Conversation About the “N”-Word in Academics and Popular Culture. The event is FREE, but reservations are required. For more information call 610-644-3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org. People’s Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern.

SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT is a new play by Scott Kaiser that premiered at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, California in 2005. In it, Mark Twain’s groundbreaking novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn comes to life onstage in an evocative retelling. Four actors tell of Huck Finn’s struggle with his conscience and his friend Jim’s struggle toward freedom, while traditional spirituals and the eloquent speeches of Frederick Douglass are juxtaposed with Huck’s and Jim’s story to provide social commentary and context.

Melanye Finister, Director of Audience Development for People’s Light & Theatre, says, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can be difficult and loaded material for students, teachers and general audiences. In fact, many schools have banned the novel because of the use of the “N”-word. We want to engage our audiences and the general community in a dialog that allows us to face these issues head-on, and to prepare audiences and help them to understand what they will see onstage.”

A Real Conversation About the “N”-Word in Academics and Popular Culture is the first of many events and conversations that will surround SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT, running May 9 – June 10, 2007. Participants in the panel discussion are la tonya thames taylor, Ph.D., member of the Frederick Douglass Institute and Professor of History at West Chester University;

Annette John-Hall, long-time columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer whose article “N-Word: Don’t Play With Fire,” appeared in the Inquirer in January; Jade King Carroll, director of SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT; and Lawrence Little, Ph.D., professor of African American Studies at Villanova University.

Other events for SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT include Pre-show Conversations on Thursday evenings, May 17, May 24, May 31 and June 7th. Post-show Talkbacks will also be hosted on those same dates. A tour of the Underground Railroad in Chester County, complete with lunch and show tickets, is on Sunday, May 20th. Presenting Mr. Frederick Douglass, a one-man show by Fred Morsell, will be presented on Saturday, May 26 at 5pm. On Saturday, June 2 at 5pm, Kim and Reggie Harris perform a concert of original contemporary folk music and traditional African-American Spiritual and Freedom Songs.

For information about this event, or for more information about other events and SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT, visit www.peopleslight.org or contact the Box Office, open daily from noon until 6pm, at 610-644-3500.

SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT runs May 9 – June 10, 2007. Tickets range from $28 - $48, with special family four-pack rates available in conjunction with the Underground Railroad Tour on May 20th. Group discounts for parties of 10 or more are also available. For more information on group tickets, call 610.647.1900, ext. 191 or group@peopleslight.org. Tickets are also still available for the remaining shows in the People’s Light & Theatre Company 2006/2007 Season: The Giver, April 26 – May 20, 2007 and Humble Boy, June 20 – July 15, 2007.

WHAT:
A Real Conversation About the “N”-Word in Academics and Popular Culture

WHERE:
People’s Light & Theatre Company, 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA

WHEN:
Monday, April 2, 2007 from 7-8:30pm on the Mainstage

PRICE:
FREE, but reservations are required

CONTACT:
For information call the Box Office at 610-644-3500, open daily noon until 6:00 pm, or visit www.peopleslight.org

PANELISTS:
la tonya thames taylor, Ph.D., member of the Frederick Douglass Institute and Professor of History at West Chester University

Annette John-Hall, long-time columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer whose article “N-Word: Don’t Play With Fire” appeared in the Inquirer in January

Jade King Carroll, director of SPLITTIN’ THE RAFT

Lawrence Little, Ph.D., professor of African American Studies at Villanova University

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