Riders on the Storm

Riders on the Storm: The Unsung Prophets of the Civil Rights Era
Time: 8:00 PM
Where: Knox Center for Performing Arts
When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday Performances
April 19, 20, 21 at 8pm ANDApril 22 at 4pm (Sunday Matinee)
Tickets: $10 Students$15 General
For more information contact: Andrea Weber at (510) 235-7800 x4961 or the Drama department homepage http://cccdrama.homestead.com

PRESS RELEASE
RIDERS ON THE STORM, a multi-media choreo-opera documenting the pivotal period in civil rights history, receives its World Premiere April 19 at Contra Costa College’s John and Jean Knox Center for Performing Arts in San Pablo.
Written and Directed by Clay David, this riveting and explosive new work sheds light on the unspoken events that led to the 1963 Washington D.C. March for Freedom and Jobs. Police Beatings, The Klu Klux Klan and the murder of 4 young girls in the bombing of a Birmingham Church are among the events reflecting the era of struggle the 1960s.
According to David, RIDERS ON THE STORM “Creates an aesthetic that reflects and preserves the story of the outsiders who refused to be silenced.” It features a mutli-generational cast of 40 actors who portray leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, George McGovern, Roy Wilkins, and many active with Freedom Movement organizations during the 1960s
"Through powerful behind-the-scenes dialogue, award-winning gospel and folk music, hard hitting sermons and speeches, and harrowing archival footage, RIDERS ON THE STORM is our way of honoring the quest for freedom that continues to build our Nation and change the world.” said David, who is a well known Bay Area director, and serves as Drama Chairman at the College.
David calls the style of the play “a first for American theatre audiences,” adding “it sheds new-found light on the nightmare world of the Civil Rights Movement. This incredible cast passionately embraces reenacting history to orchestrate police beatings, the KKK, and the Birmingham church bombing onstage.”
“The toxic world of racism, the FBI and its malevolent methods of wire-tapping, and homophobia in the African-American church are central to this story. The sad profundity of RIDERS ON THE STORM is that we are still engulfed in the quagmire of all of these hot-button issues.”

from cccdrama.homestead.com