Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Civic Ensemble presents On the Corner, which follows Julian, an African-American teenager, and Officer James, the white police officer who detains him, as they travel from the Wall Street slave market of 1690, to a Bronx high school in 1978.  When they disagree about the meaning of this history, their journey leads them to the heart of our divided America, and the possibility of a new future. Julian's family has sent him to Ithaca from the Bronx to keep him out of trouble. While in Ithaca, his mother passes away. This event sparks the action of the play as a chorus of four all-knowing travellers guides the Julian's journey through space and time and, ultimately, back home again.

On the Corner deepens the conversation started in Safety, Civic Ensemble's 2014 community-based play about community-police relations. While Safety sought to increase understanding between police and non-police community members, On the Corner investigates race, class, and the origin of race in the United States through the lens of the relationship between Julian and Officer James. "We see this relationship develop in a way it would be unlikely to do in real life. The chorus, and the time travel, provide an opportunity for us to imagine the possibilities without the constraints of space and time," co-playwright and co-director Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. says.

The annual community-based play program is the brainchild of Civic Engagement Director Sarah K. Chalmers. The program began in 2013 with Parent Stories, a collage of stories shared by parents in a series of community story circles. The material for Safety was gathered in a similar way. This year with On the Corner, participants were recruited to spend two nights a week during June and July sharing stories and developing material for the play that Chalmers and Simmons have scripted. When asked why she is participating in the show actor Syvlie Yntema shared, "I got involved with this company because I wanted more connection with my community, and because I absolutely believe that theater has the power to affect change." Helen Clark said she joined, "to continue to re-educate myself, as a white person, on the true history of this country."

On the Corner features several cast members who have performed with Civic Ensemble in the past: Donna Acquavella, Helen T. Clark, Terrell M. Dickson, Rachel Gould, Mar Pérez, Eric Worthington, and Sylvie Yntema. Performing with Civic for the first time are: Heather Duke, Alan Godfrey, Jharrel Jerome, Andrea Owens, James Schultz, and Jason Wilson. Also involved is Nia Nunn Makepeace, Assistant Professor at Ithaca College's Education Department. Ms. Nunn Makepeace, also the director of the Community Unity Music Education Program (CUMEP), brings her talent for choreography to the show in the form of a dance she created and performed with the campers at CUMEP this summer. Ms. Nunn Makepeace and the dancers of CUMEP will join with the cast of On the Corner in performing this dance piece as part of the play. Co-directing the community-based play this year are Sarah K. Chalmers and Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. of Civic Ensemble.

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