Elyria, OH (4/7/22) — The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater Project (OWR), in collaboration with Lorain County Community College (LCCC), is inviting community members and leaders to a presentation by playwright Ifa Bayeza. The 2-hour event will be held at LCCC’s Stocker Arts Center’s Lakeland Community Foundation Cinema Hall. Interested attendees should RSVP by April 4 to Debra Wise, dwise@undergroundrailwaytheater.org.
This event is the second presentation on the progress of The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater Project, an as-of-yet untitled play about the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue being written by Ifa Bayeza in collaboration with Producing Directors Debra Wise and Eric Steggall.
The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theater Project exists to devise and stage a theatrical experience that combines compelling characters, thrilling music, and dynamic storytelling to invite diverse and intergenerational audiences into an epic sweep of history, while simultaneously engaging them in essential questions about today.
In the summer of 2021, more than 50 community members met with Ifa Bayeza to help her launch her research. In the summer of 2022, excerpts from the work-in-project will be toured to various sites in the region. The venue for the 2023 premiere has yet to be chosen. And an additional, more far-reaching goal is the creation of a permanent venue as the home for this and other dynamic programs.
“The history of the Underground Railroad is so central to the evolution of this country that it should be one of America’s foundational myths, and yet it is not.
We want to change that.”
– Ifa Bayeza, 2021
