“Though it sometimes looks like a rich man will never help the poor; whereas the poor people will give away everything they has to help somebody who ain’t got nothing. That’s how it looks to me. Don’t seem like it ought to be that way, but I reckon the rich ain’t got no time to fool with us poor folks.”
― Erskine Caldwell, Tobacco Road
Jack Kirkland's theatrical adaptation of Erskine Caldwell's Fable of the Deconstruction "Tobacco Road" wields the same power on stage when the production premiered at the Masque Theatre in New York City in 1933. The production went on to become one of the longest-running plays in history, running for a staggering 3,182 performances. As of December 2024, it was still the 21st longest-running Broadway show in history, as well as being the second-longest running non-musical ever on Broadway
In desolate farm country in Georgia, the profitable tobacco crop has given way to cotton plantations, but poor planting practices have depleted the soil. The Lester family were once sharecroppers, but are now poverty-stricken and unable to cope with the bleak life they face. Jeeter Lester, the patriarch, lives in squalor with his wife Ada, their two children, 16-year-old Dude and 18-year-old Ellie May, and his mother. Ada is suffering from pellagra and Ellie May has a harelip Jeeter and Dude are thin and emaciated, and the family wears tattered clothing.
Sister Bessie Rice, a stout preacher of about 40, decides to marry Dude, who agrees when she promises to buy him a car. When Capt. Tim Harmon tells the family that the house and property are owned by the bank, Jeeter is given a chance to earn money so that they may keep living there, but he refuses.
An intense Americana story that joins the the Post 20th-Century list of Fables of the Deconstruction.
Showtimes and days:
Thursday and Friday @ 7:30 pm
Saturday @ 5:00 pm
Artie Award winners, writer Matthew LaChiusa, and Musical Director, Billy Horn's, book and music adaptation of
-"Three Penny Opera". LaChiusa has translated the original book with lyrics from the Public Domain version of Brecht's "Three Penny Opera" and with composer, Billy Horn, have reconstructed the book and created a modern score to this timeless classic.
Thurs/Friday @ 7:30 pm / Saturday @ 5:30 pm
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