New stage play hits McCoy Auditorium [GALLERY]

Simon Cotton
MC Contributor

Jackson State University’s Speech Communications and Theatre Department will thrill audiences once again with their upcoming production, “Wine in the Wilderness”.

This will be the department’s second production of the semester and will be running from Nov. 12 -16 in the Rose E. McCoy Auditorium.

The play is set in 1963 during the riots of Harlem, N.Y. triggered by racial incident  involving a black youth and a white police officer. The play’s main characters are Bill, Sonny-man, Cynthia, and Tommy Marie and they all interact over the course of a day.

Deshadrian Hopkins, a junior theatre major from Jackson, Miss., will be play the role of Tommy Marie and said her character changed her mindset after her journey throughout the play.

“I’ll be playing Tommy Marie or Tomorrow Marie, and I am the “messed up chick” of the play. My house just burned down, I have no place to go, and I find comfort in these new friends we found in the middle of a riot,” said Hopkins. “I go on a journey myself because I think that I’m no good because I’ve had no schooling. But hanging with the upper echelon of the black folks, I come to recognize my self-importance and my self-worth.”

Yolanda Williams, Assistant Professor and Production Manager for the play, will also serve as the director.

“When you direct a show, you start your process before anyone else. Getting the script begins your process as a director. You go from researching, deciding the approach you want to take with the show and most importantly, the story you want to tell with a production’” said Williams.  “I work with designers, stage managers and other people that are collaborating on the production before even casting it. Next we add the cast and that begins the rehearsal process that can last anywhere between 3 and 4 weeks. This process took about a month and now we are ready to run.”

Williams stated that the audience will enjoy taking the journey with the cast members.

“I expect the audience to sit back and enjoy a tale about an artist questioning himself and his approach to life. This is one day, 24 hours, look into the lives of these characters. You see how someone can change themselves and their beliefs in a day’s span if they surround themselves with real genuine people.”

Hopkins said she expects those who see the play to understand that black people as a whole should come together and love each other more.

“Us as black people, we already get enough static from the other races and I want them to realize the least we can do is love each other as a race, as a people, as a whole, and I want them to come to that realization,” said Hopkins.

For ticket information, visit http://10.14.12.245/speechcomm/box-office/.  The next and last production from the department this semester will be the annual play “Black Nativity”, which will run from Dec. 3-6.