THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL

Full-length Drama

by Ifa Bayeza

2W, 4M

Original songs by Ifa Bayeza.

The Ballad of Emmett Till dramatizes the final days of Emmett Till, a Chicago teenager who takes a fateful trip to Mississippi in the summer of 1955. It is the story of a quest, Emmett’s pursuit of happiness, of liberty and ultimately of life.

“A familiar story, made riveting...triumphant. Bayeza’s fluidly spun, character-rich world premiere…is infused with such beautiful language, such a fine ear for the very individual voices of her characters, such a rich and detailed sense of the nature of the racial divide in the North and South of the time, and a biblical feel for the whole notion of resurrection that the story remains riveting ...exceptionally powerful.”
—Chicago Sun Times

“Bayeza’s portrayal reclaims Emmett Till as a human being...emotionally gripping.”
—Variety

“A brilliant symphony of love...a powerful masterpiece! Bayeza’s writing is colorful, melodic, rich, passionate...the most important play of the season.”
—Houston Chronicle

“I see blues and jazz. It’s laughter and sorrow. I hear the music. It could be a poem by itself.”
—Ruby Dee

THAT SUMMER IN SUMNER

Full-length Drama

by Ifa Bayeza

3W, 7M

THAT SUMMER IN SUMNER is the middle drama in The Till Trilogy, a three-play cycle exploring the epic saga of Emmett Till. While the first play, The Ballad of Emmett Till, is the story of the boy, That Summer in Sumner explores the 1955 trial of his killers. While drawing upon trial transcripts, contemporaneous news accounts, and the abundant photographic and media imaging, the play is not a docudrama, but my imagined interpretation of behind the scenes events from the perspective of three African American journalists covering the trial and from Emmett, himself, his ghost, his cipher, his Kah, coming to grips with what has happened to him.  

BENEVOLENCE

Full-length Drama

by Ifa Bayeza

4W, 7M

BENEVOLENCE is the third play in The Till Trilogy, exploring the epic saga of Civil Rights icon Emmett Louis Till, the Chicago teenager whose fateful trip to Mississippi in the summer of 1955 is believed by many to mark the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

BENEVOLENCE explores the transformation in the Mississippi Delta in the wake of Emmett’s death, the toll of the legacy of enslavement on the smallest units of our society, the family and individual. From the eyes of two women and the men in their lives, it is an intimate play, a tale of love and loss. Like the land in its time, Benevolence is segregated.

Author

Ifa Bayeza

Ifa Bayeza is an award-winning playwright, director, novelist and educator. Described as “breathtaking,” “staggering,” “extraordinarily lyrical,” and “triumphant,” her literary style and transcendent themes veer from the intimate to the mythic and compel us to re-examine the deeply embedded ideas we attach to race and gender. Plays include The Till Trilogy (The Ballad of Emmett Till, That Summer in Sumner, and Benevolence), reimagining the saga of 1955 Civil Rights icon Emmett Till; String Theory, on the 1839 Amistad slave ship survivors; Welcome to Wandaland, a childhood memoir and Infants of the Spring, adaptedfrom the classic Harlem Renaissance novel. She has written two musicals: the World War I love story, Charleston Olio, a Fred Ebb Award...[FULL BIO]