Tazewell Thompson directs the world premiere of his Constant Star, opening Sept. 25 at North Carolina's PlayMakers Repertory Company. Previews began Sept. 22 with a run set through Oct. 17.

The history of Ida B. Wells, a slave born in 1860s Mississippi, who grew to become a pioneer of civil and women's rights, Constant Star features some of America's greatest human rights advocates, from Frederick Douglass, Marcus Garvey and Booker T. Washington to Susan B. Anthony and Jane Addams.

Tony winner Trazana Beverly (the Lady in Red in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf) stars with Kimberly Hawthorne (From the Mississippi Delta), Brenda Thomas (Having Our Say), Marguerite Hannah and Kathryn Hunter Williams.

For ticket information, call the Playmakers box office (919) 962-PLAY. All PlayMakers performances are at the Paul Green Theatre in the Centre for Dramatic Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. PlayMakers is on the web at http://www.playmakers.org.

-- By Christine Ehren