Night Bloom Cast By Jay Paul
Virginia Repertory Theatre announces the opening of Night Blooms by Margaret Baldwin at the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre on Friday, September 28 with Previews on September 26 and 27. First produced by Horizon Theatre Company in Atlanta, Night Blooms was named one of 2010’s top plays by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and ArtsATL. Winner of the Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award in 2011, Margaret Baldwin is a graduate of St. Catherine’s School and the University of Virginia. Virginia Rep is thrilled to stage this production of her stunning new play in her hometown.
Under the direction of Bruce Miller, Night Blooms tells the story of two families (one white and one black) in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 on the eve of the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery. As history is being made and tension mounts in the streets, the matriarch of the white family focuses on her night blooming cereus and the party she is planning to celebrate the single bloom of the summer. She requires her African American maid to come in on her day off to prepare for the party, unaware that the maid’s son and her own son are among the marchers.
Inspired by the playwright’s own family history, the play examines the civil rights movement from the perspective of the two families. Margaret Baldwin spent many holidays and summers in Selma and heard often-conflicting views about the same story. “Night Blooms is my attempt to make sense of my family story within the big story of history. It’s a play about how families face and live through change, and how change forces us (like it or not) to see the world with different eyes.” Many of the characters are based on her own family members and friends. Margaret currently lives in Atlanta and teaches at Kennesaw State University and her plays have been produced throughout the country and abroad. She will participate in a talk-back after the Sunday matinee on October 7.
Ticket Information
Box Office 804-282-2620
www.va-rep.org
