WE ALL WE GOT: A BINGHAMPTON PLAY Comes to the Orpheum in November

The Orpheum Theatre Group has announced “We All We Got: A Binghampton Play” written by local actor and writer Ann Perry Wallace and conceived by the Orpheum Theatre Group and the Binghampton community. This performance is the culmination of an inaugural Orpheum Theatre Group community playmaking program called Neighborhood Play.

Public performances will be held at The Chapel at First Baptist Broad Church (2835 Broad Ave) Friday, November 1 at 7pm, Saturday November 2 at 1pm and Sunday November 3 at 2pm. Performances are free to attend but RSVPs are encouraged.

"Since we started working on this play over a year ago, we have been embraced and welcomed into the Binghampton neighborhood,” said Taylor St. John, Orpheum Director of Education & Engagement. “We've been honored to hear stories from residents young and old -listening to people from very different walks of life- who are passionate and eager to express their love for the neighborhood and their uncertainty about its future. We hope this play shines a light on the beauty of the neighborhood while also amplifying the concerns of the people that call it home."

Over the past year, the Orpheum Theatre Group has been collaborating with the Binghampton community to hear real stories of the people that live, work, worship, or go to school in the neighborhood. After meeting with hundreds of community members, a fictional play was created inspired by the stories they told. The play is inspired by Binghampton and performed and designed by community members.

“We All We Got: A Binghampton Play” follows two girls with starkly different lives as they come of age in the same vibrant and unpredictable neighborhood. Inspired by hundreds of real Binghampton stories, this fictional Binghampton introduces a colorful community of characters bringing up their young people and holding on to hope in one of Memphis’ most diverse and fast-changing neighborhoods.

To RSVP for the free public performances November 1-3, visit https://orpheum-memphis.com/event/we-all-we-got. In partnership with Backbeat Tours, free transportation will be available at the following pick-up locations: Lester Community Center, The Commons on Merton, and Chickasaw Place Apartments.

“We All We Got: A Binghampton Play” was commissioned and originally produced by the Orpheum Theatre Group. It was created in collaboration with the Refugee Empowerment Program, Carpenter Art Garden, Lester Community Center, First Baptist Broad Church, Inspire Community Café, Collage Dance Collective, Cornerstone Lester Prep, Binghampton Development Corporation and more. The Neighborhood Play Program is generously supported by Arts Memphis, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Community Trust, Thomas W. Briggs Foundation and Tennessee Arts Commission.

The Neighborhood Play Program is a community play-making program that explores the stories of a neighborhood and collaboratively creates a play with and about the community. The Orpheum Theatre Group facilitates a series of free interactive story-based workshops between neighborhood residents and artists, creates a fictional play inspired by the stories, and invites community members to audition and participate in the production alongside professional Orpheum teaching artists. The program culminates in free public performances. 

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