A view of the civil rights movement through the eyes of youth, and a message that children have strength to make a difference and make change.
This is what attendees of the upcoming
Springfield Civic Theatre production of One Sunday in Birmingham will gain during the performances this month.
The play, written by Dayton resident Joyce Barnes, features a cast from both Springfield and the greater Miami Valley. It tells the story of the civil rights movement as seen by a 15-year-old girl who is part of a group of kids who join The Children’s March in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963.
“I wrote this at least 20 years ago,” Barnes says. “I was living in Atlanta at the time, and I was listening to a lot of recordings of sermons by Dr. Martin Lurther King, and it just came to me.”
Barnes is an associate professor at Sinclair Community College, a published author, and has written and produced several plays.
One Sunday in Birmingham has been performed before in Atlanta, Dayton, Columbus and Xenia, and Barnes says she’s excited to now be bringing it to Springfield.
“I’m looking forward to showcasing the talented people in Springfield,” she says. “I love being able to tell this story to different audiences. I’m always happy to see new people tell this story and give them another outlet for creative talent.”
The upcoming production will be the first time the show will be accompanied by live music, she says.
The cast is multigenerational and multiracial, Barnes says, adding that because it focuses on The Children’s March, there are many young actors from Springfield in the performance.
“It’s been really fun to see them learning this history and coming to understand what their role is in telling this story,” Barnes says. “It’s a show about community, and it’s about a community in Birmingham that pulled together because they were just sick and tired of being sick and tired.
“And the kids led the way because the parents were tired, and they had jobs and mortgages, and they had a lot at stake … and the kids were ready – they were so ready.”
Barnes says the Springfield Civic Theater has never produced a play that has showcased a mostly black cast before and that this has been a positive, community-building experience.
“It has been wonderful to see these communities come together - people who didn’t know each other before the production. It’s a beautiful thing,” she says. “The play in essence is about how we come together as a community and come together in times of crisis.”
Barnes, who grew up in Dayton, says the show is family friendly.
The production is being sponsored by The Turner Foundation, The Springfield Foundation, The Della Selsor Trust, The African American Community Family of Funds, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, WYSO, multiple individual sponsors, and The Gammon House, which Barnes described as the show’s earliest supporter in its path to come to Springfield.
“It’s so heartwarming the way the community has embraced this play,” she says.
Tickets for the show are on sale now and can be purchased online
here.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, and Friday, Feb. 25, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at the John Legend Theater. Performances can be found as events on the
Springfield Civic Theatre’s Facebook page.
For more details about One Sunday in Birmingham, including the cast list, can be found on the
Springfield Civic Theatre’s website.
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