DETROIT
--
Detroiters
who
missed
last
year’s
debut of
“AFTER/LIFE,”
a play
chronicling
the ’67
rebellion
and the
roles of
women in
the
confrontation,
will be
able to
catch it
in an
enhanced
reading
this
month as
it
returns
for one
day
only.
The
performance
will be
free but
seating
is
limited.
“AFTER/LIFE:
In Honor
of the
City
Rising
from the
Ashes”
debuted
in
Detroit
last
year to
commemorate
the 50th
anniversary
of the
Detroit
rebellion.
The
staged
reading
will
take
place
July 20
at 7
p.m. at
the
Williams
Center,
8431
Rosa
Parks
Boulevard.
Tickets
can be
reserved
at
https://afterlifestagereading.eventbrite.com
“What's
different
this
year is
that
I've
done
some new
writing
to
expand
and
clarify
some of
the
original
story
lines
around
the
female
characters,”
explained
Dr. Lisa
Biggs,
who
conceived
this
version
of the
play
with
Billicia
Hines,
director
of the
Black
Theatre
Program
at Wayne
State
University.
“The
performances
last
year
introduced
me to so
many
people
in the
neighborhood
who were
there
and
remembered
first-hand
where
they
were and
what
went on.
So it
was
important
to
deepen
some of
the
characters'
storylines
with
this new
information,”
Biggs
said.
In
July
1967,
Detroit
residents
in
largely
African-American
neighborhoods
squared
off
against
the
city’s
largely
white
police
department
in a
five-day
confrontation
that
resulted
in the
deaths
of 43
people
(33
African-American
and 10
white).
The
clash,
which
saw
thousands
of
buildings
burned,
followed
a police
raid on
an
after-hours
nightclub;
residents
said the
rebellion
was in
response
to an
overzealous
and
racist
police
force.
The July
20
performance
will
feature
a cast
of new
and
established
Detroit
actors:
Indigo
Colbert,
Lynette
(Lani)
Call,
Assata
Haki,
Luke
Hodgson,
Timothy
Hiemstra,
Yolanda
Jack,
Yakeem
Tatum
and
Taylor
Jones.
Dr.
Biggs,
an
actress,
playwright
and
performance
scholar,
developed
the play
along
with her
students
while
serving
as an
assistant
professor
in the
Residential
College
in the
Arts and
Humanities
at
Michigan
State
University.
The
initial
debut
was
supported
by a
grant
from the
John S.
and
James L.
Knight
Foundation.
Tickets
are free
but
seating
is
limited.
For more
information
or to
get
tickets,
go to
https://afterlifestagereading.eventbrite.com.