Black Theatre Troupe Presents LINES IN THE DUST

Black Theatre Troupe once again brings a drama reflecting today's headlines as it presents the emotional and controversial issue of education inequality with LINES IN THE DUST, written by playwright Nikkole Salter.

When Denitra loses the charter school lottery for her daughter, she must find another way to escape from their underperforming neighbourhood school. The answer seems like a risk well worth taking but may end up requiring a bigger sacrifice than she ever could have imagined. It's been exactly 60 years since Brown Versus the Board of Education. Lines in The Dust questions how far we've come and more importantly, where we go from here.

The title refers to Alabama Governor George Wallace infamous speech regarding segregation in the 1960s as the play focuses on the residential zoning for school districts and the very real impact it has on families.

"We, as a nation, are losing out." says Ms. Salter. "Collectively, we continue to demonstrate that we believe in our hearts that some people are better than others; some people are inherently more capable than others; some people, based on where they live, are more valuable and more worthy of our investment than others. Nowhere does this make itself more apparent than in our system of public education. Public school should be the same no matter where you go, but it's just not. School residency fraud is one of the things people are doing to deal with this."

LINES IN THE DUST will be performed by Black Theatre Troupe from February 9 - 25, 2018 at the Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center, 1333 E. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ 85034.

Tickets are $38 and are on sale at blacktheatretroupe.org or by calling 602-258-8129.

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