An African-American book editor, publishes the memoirs of an elderly, Southern black woman only to discover that the author is not exactly who she seems.
Performances of Bee-Luther-Hatchee will be given in the Performance OutReach Theater of the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe, October 30-November 22, 2003, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00pm and two Sunday matinees November 9 & 16 at 2:00pm. Ticket prices are $15 general admission, $12 students and seniors. For ticket reservations and information call (602) 347-1071 x 1.
The iTheatre Collaborative production of Bee-Luther-Hatchee is directed by Charles St. Clair and features the cast; Sapphire Jule King, Joyce Gittoes, Ellen Devine, Christopher Haines and Steven J. Scally.
"...This is a beautiful play; one that
is so distinctly American in its dealing with the issues of race
and prejudice, of outrage and good intentions..."
-Carl A. Rossi, Theater Mirror
The play's title is a slang term from the 1930's railroad era for "a damnable place, the next stop after Hell." Said Thomas Gibbons, the playwright, "One thing I'm trying to suggest is that in terms of racial politics in this country we have reached a kind of bee-luther-hatchee." The play's theme is one of cultural identity and its ownership. Who owns the story of a life, a people, a culture? In the play, Bee-Luther-Hatchee, Gibbons doesn't settle for a neat and tidy ending that answers the above, because there are no easy answers. Instead the play is a catalyst, a touchstone for debate about our nation's growing racial divide.
Bee-Luther-Hatchee was first produced by InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia in 1999, where Thomas Gibbons is also playwright-in-residence. His plays have been seen at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, off-off-Broadway at Blue Heron Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Actors Express, Florida Stage, and others. He is the recipient of five playwriting fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a Roger L. Stevens Award from the Fund for New American Plays, a Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.