CCBC Presents The Uprising Plays As Part Of Baltimore Stories

The Performing Arts and Humanities Academic Theatre program at the Community College of Baltimore County presents The Uprising Plays, March 22 - 26, at CCBC Essex, in The Robert and Eleanor Romadka College Center, F. Scott Black Theatre. The Uprising Plays are part of CCBC's Baltimore Stories project and feature five short plays written by local playwrights about their reflections on the unrest sparked by the 2015 death of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray. Each performance will be followed by a post-show discussion led by a playwright, community organizer or a member of the community.

For the 2017-2018 arts season, the Performing Arts at CCBC is featuring Baltimore Stories, a yearlong series about Baltimore told through dance, music and theater by artists in diverse genres who live in or have roots in Baltimore.

The Uprising Plays include:

Rich Espey's play, Deep Reverence, uses the metaphor of "Orioles Magic" and a baseball announcer who announces and comments on the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Espey is a playwright, actor and teacher living in Baltimore, who has had more than 80 productions of his plays performed throughout the United States and Europe.

CCBC Theatre Program Coordinator and playwright Julie Lewis uses the practice of "theatre games" to capture scenes in Baltimore from various perspectives during and immediately after the uprisings in her play Theatre Games: Baltimore Edition. Lewis' work has been locally produced at The Strand, Glass Mind Theatre, Vagabonds, The Kennedy Center and Fells Point Corner Theatre.

In Justin Lawson Isett's short comic play, Why Are They Rioting Question Mark Exclamation Point, a well-meaning white couple summons help in the form of "black representation" in order to understand Baltimore's unrest.

Good Morning Baltimore, by CCBC alumnus Mike Smith, uses a morning news show format to illustrate how uninformed and potentially biased media may be helping to shape and perpetuate negative perceptions about Baltimore and its residents.

CCBC alumnus Aris Hines' play, X-Ray, examines the lives of Baltimoreans in the wake of the 2015 Baltimore uprising. Based on real interviews, audiences are transported into the minds of the privileged as they deal with the chaos in their society.

The Uprising Plays performance dates and times:

• March 22 at 11:10 a.m.
• March 23, 24 at 7 p.m.
• March 25 at 3 p.m.
• March 26 at 10 a.m.

Tickets are $10 for general admission; $5 for seniors, students, CCBC faculty, staff and alumni; and free for CCBC students with a current ID. Tickets may be purchased by phone or online at the CCBC Box Office, 443-840-ARTS (2787) or online at TicketReturn.com.

Baltimore Stories is supported, in part, by an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year, CCBC's Performing Arts department creates a season of work based on a common theme. For more information, visit the Performing Arts at CCBC web page or the arts blog.

Since 1957, CCBC has opened the doors to accessible, affordable, high-quality education empowering generations of area residents to transform their lives and the lives of others. Each year, more than 63,000 students enroll at the college's main campuses, extension centers and online to make their starts, earn degrees, launch and build careers. CCBC offers the region's most expansive selection of degree, certificate and workplace certification programs that prepare students for transfer, job entry and career advancement in such industries as business, education, health care, information technology, cybersecurity, construction and transportation. CCBC is nationally recognized as a leader in innovative learning strategies, among the nation's top associate degree producers, and designated as a Military Times Best College 2018.

CCBC is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, 2nd Floor West, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (267-284-5000). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.