Submitted by Oddfellows Playhouse
(February 27, 2024) — ARTFARM, Oddfellows Playhouse and HartBeat Ensemble will present a reading of The Amen Corner by James Baldwin, on Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. at Cross Street AME Zion Church in Middletown.
This is the second reading in the series “Black Presencing: Reading Plays in the Community.” The Amen Corner addresses themes of the role of the church in the African-American family, the complex relationship between religion and earthly love, and the effect of a poverty born of racial prejudice on the African-American community. The play follows a respected female pastor as she leads a church that meets in a storefront in the mid-twentieth century. Fears and suffering from her past have led her to a life of strict religious observance, and she leads her congregation without telling them of the failures in her past.
The Amen Corner is directed by HartBeat Artistic Director Godfrey Simmons and will feature actors from throughout central Connecticut. The play is presented as part of the local celebration of the centennial of the birth of James Baldwin.
“Black Presencing: Reading Plays in the Community,” is supported by a generous grant from CT Humanities, and brings the work of modern African-American playwrights to the local community. The final reading in the series will be Kirsten Greenidge’s Baltimore on April 14, 2024.
Cross Street AME Zion Church is located at 440 West Street in Middletown. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to help support a new roof for the Church.
For more information, contact Oddfellows Playhouse at 860- 347-6143 or email info@oddfellows.org.
