FREEDOM HIGH production at Uprooted Theatre
FREEDOM HIGH will be produced by Uprooted Theatre, directed by Marti Gobel, with a performance on November 17th at the University of Wisconsin and on November 18th at Next Act Theatre.
Inspired by actual events, FREEDOM HIGH takes place in June 1964, when black Civil Rights workers trained hundreds of white volunteers to work in Mississippi registering blacks to vote. Jessica, a young white volunteer, has no idea has no idea how dangerous – both physically and emotionally – the project will be. Instead, she throws herself into learning non-violent tactics and stubbornly trying to befriend an angry, wounded veteran of the Movement.
When three Civil Rights workers who’d been at the training the previous week disappear, the volunteers and their leaders are forced to decide if they can risk their lives for a mission that seems doomed. Jessica discovers the perilous complexity of her motivations, and those of everyone else involved.
This production is among a number of events across the country commemorating the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer.