Chuck Smith will direct the production at the resident Equity theatre in Indianapolis. The fact-based drama is inspired by the Depression-era lives of James Cameron and Mary Ball, who emerged as the sole survivors of racial crimes in Marion, IN. Teenagers when the crimes occurred, "they look back on those events and their lives in Charles Smith’s latest work commissioned by the IRT," according to production notes. "As their past and present lives intermingle, Cameron and Ball discover that their remembrances of that day differ even if their experiences were the same — challenging us all to wrestle with the tensions between memory, history and redemption."

The Gospel According to James will also feature Kelsey Brennan (Mary), Keith Gallagher (Claude), Marcus Hendricks (Tommy), Linda Kimbrough (Marie), Diane Kondrat (Bea), Christopher Jon Martin (Hoot), Anthony Peeples (Apples) and Tyler Jacob Rollinson (Abe).

In November 2010, two-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner De Shields (Play On!, The Full Monty, Ain't Misbehavin') portrayed W.E.B. Du Bois in playwright Charles Smith's critically acclaimed New York production of Knock Me a Kiss, directed by Chuck Smith.

For tickets and information, call (317) 635-5252 or visit www.irtlive.com.