Speranza Theatre Company's UNVEILING LIBERTY Explores Women's Rights

New Jersey Theatre Alliance presents Speranza Theatre Company's Unveiling Liberty as part of the Stages Festival, the state's largest annual theatre festival that provides free and discounted theatre events for all ages throughout the month of March. Unveiling Liberty, an original historical play by Charlotte Rahn-Lee and Jennie Contuzzi, will be directed by Mikaela Kafka featuring period music by Estelle Bajou and historical costume design by Marci Elyn Shein. The play is intended for an audience of children and adults, ages six and up. Performances are on 3/29 at 6:30 PM, 3/30 at 2:30 PM and 6:30 PM, and 3/31 at 2:30 PM at The Apple Tree House, 298 Academy Street, in Jersey City. All readings are free and open to the public.

Unveiling Liberty is set in 1886. Ten-year-old Isabelle is enamored of the enormous statue about to be unveiled in New York harbor. Her father and brother are going to go watch the dedication, and Isabelle doesn't understand why she's not allowed, just because she's a girl. But it turns out that the very thing Isabelle loves about the statue - that a woman has been chosen to represent liberty - has drawn the attention of the Woman's Suffrage Association. They have something to say about it and a daring plan to make themselves heard. Meanwhile, Jackie, a young black woman, has her own thoughts about this statue, but is she even at liberty to express them? With cameo appearances by historical figures like Lillian Devereux Blake, Emma Lazarus, Joseph Pulitzer, this play explores the state of women's rights at the time of the birth of an iconic landmark.

While Unveiling Liberty addresses themes of progress and protest that are important in any era, current events have made this play even more relevant. The story, about the history of gender inequality in the United States, the early suffrage and women's rights movements and the intersection between gender and racial inequality, includes important lessons for children and adults struggling to understand and make a difference in our current political climate.

For more information, or to make a reservation, visit https://speranzaunveilingliberty.bpt.me

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