Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The Hangar Theatre is presenting We Carry the Dream, a new play celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to rural elementary school students in Tompkins County. The play will be performed March 5 - 7 at five local elementary schools including Newfield, Dryden, Lansing, Groton, and Trumansburg.

Written by Hangar Associate Artistic Director and Head of Education Jesse Bush, We Carry the Dream is an original play for young audiences that is being produced in collaboration with the University of Central Florida (UCF). The play is directed by UCF Professor Belinda Boyd, who has previously worked with Stephanie Yankwitt, Hangar's Acting Artistic Director, at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The play's cast is made up entirely of UCF theatre students. In addition, UCF students have frequently participated in the Hangar Theatre's educational Lab Company programs in the past.

Exploring themes of responsibility, leadership, conflict resolution, and empathy, We Carry the Dream seeks to motivate young audiences to find their own way to continue Dr. King's legacy. The play begins with the Dream Keepers, a group of performers who inspire audience members to carry out the vision of Dr. King. When a discouraged boy shows up, the Dream Keepers lift his spirits by taking him on a lively journey through highlights of Dr. King's life.

From his childhood in Atlanta, to the bus boycott in Montgomery, the march on Washington, and his final days in Memphis, this biographical work uses music and imagination to illuminate the lessons that Dr. King taught throughout his remarkable life. This initiative was made possible by a Rural Communities Grant from the Community Foundation.

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