Plowshares' resident director, Janet Cleveland, stages the play, which founding artistic director Gary Anderson discovered in a national search of new or recent African American-written works that had been developed elsewhere but not given full stagings.
In Walks Mem'ry "captures the lingering impact sexual abuse has had on many families," Cleveland said in production notes. In the play, characters are both victim and victimizer.
Set in rural Maryland during the summer of 1985, In Walks Mem'ry addresses "one family's legacy of abuse and two women's discovery of the strength to overcome." Zoey is a woman "desperate to reconnect the pieces of her life and escape the memory of the last 15 years spent in jail for murder. Her return home is bittersweet. Strong willed, but tragically scarred, Zoey eventually must face the devastating consequences of her actions and those of her father."
Previews are March 20 and 21. Opening Night is March 22.
The play was developed at the WordBRIDGE play development program, Washington, DC's Arena Stage, and Columbia University, where it won the John Golden Playwriting Award. Other recognition has included 1999 National Play Award from the National Repertory Theatre Foundation and 1999 Long Play Finalist from the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco. The cast includes Iris Farrugia as Zoey and Augustus Williamson as the abusive father, Winston. Newcomers Cameron Knight and Telisha Sims make their Plowshares debut. Actress and singer Lydia Willis — last seen as Grace in The Piano Lesson — rounds out the cast.
Tickets range $10-$25. Performances play the Paul Robeson Theatre at the Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers on the corner of Meyers and Curtis in northwest Detroit. For information, call (313) 872-0279.
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Plowshares, which has presented in rented venues for 10 years, is expected to announce by fall a capital campaign for a new home where the troupe will be its own landlord.