Though unrepresented on New York stages in 2002-03, Tony-winner Leight (Side Man) is having a busy season in the regions. Last fall, his No Foreigners Beyond This Point debuted at Baltimore's Center Stage.
ETC scored a coup in 1999 by becoming the first regional theatre to produced Leight's Side Man following its Broadway production. The mounting was an important success for the small Ohio company, attracting record ticket sales. ETC went on to produce the playwright's Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine.
James and Annie tells the story of an interracial love affair between an African-American solider and a white woman that begins right after World War II. Though both black soldiers and female civilians enjoyed new liberties during the course of the conflict, the two groups—and James and Annie in particular—soon found that those freedoms did not necessarily extend to peacetime.
The play was workshopped last summer at the New Harmony Festival in Indiana before opening at ETC.
D. Lynn Meyers directs a cast including Cezar Williams as James, Marin Ireland as Annie and Todd Almond. The show will run through March 30. For information, call (513) 421-3555.