THANK YOU, DAD, A New Play About Cult Leader Jim Jones Premieres

Rapid Lemon Productions will present its first full-length commissioned play, Thank You, Dad by Aladrian C. Wetzel, this winter to open its 2019 season.

In a South American jungle in 1978 The Reverend Jim Jones ordered the deaths of over 900 members of his Peoples Temple in the largest mass murder/suicide in modern history. Thank You, Dad presents Jones at three points in his life: his first ministries in Indiana in the 1950s, his progressive services in California in the '60s, and his fatal final sermon in Jonestown, Guyana.

Jones will be portrayed by Lance Bankerd, Rapid Lemon Productions' artistic director. The play is collaboratively directed by RLP Company Members Donna Ibale, Chara Bauer, Lee Conderacci, and Justin Johnson.

Aladrian C. Wetzel is a Baltimore-based theater artist. Recent works include the ten-minute play "Dark Side of Light" in 2018's Variations on Sacrifice, and Infertile Ground with Cohesion Theatre Company.

Performances January 11 - 20, 2019. Tickets $20 cash / $21 credit card. At Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St., Baltimore, MD 21201. Phone (410) 752-8558. Online www.theatreproject.org.

1977 photo of Jim Jones by Nancy Wong