Gretna Theatre has again produced a one-hour play that celebrates the importance of diversity in America’s history.
“No Easy Road To Freedom,” a play by Tom Quinn, is an educational show that uses poetry, drama, and song to illustrate individual bravery and determination in the face of oppression.
As we reported last year, the play’s writer, Tom Quinn, is the Director of Education at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre and a former high school history teacher.
“No Easy Road To Freedom” travels through American history with scenes on immigration, women’s rights, the civil rights movement, and more. The play features professional actors in different roles, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. It is directed by Renee Krizan, and is suitable for 6th graders to adults.
Executive Producer Brian Kurtas tells LebTown the touring show will make about 10 stops in February, at places like schools and retirement homes.
But, notably, only one performance is free and open to the public. That will be Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 6:00 p.m. in the Lebanon County Youth Advocate Program auditorium/gym at 1691 Grace Avenue in Lebanon.
Kurtas explains that Gretna Theare is America’s oldest summer stock theatre and Lebanon’s only professional theatre, and today a year-round operation. During the off-season, the theatre concentrates on its education outreach efforts, taking live, professional theatre to school assemblies, community centers, and nursing homes, where the one-hour format works well. The theatre company is doing four different shows this season.
The free performance of “No Easy Road To Freedom” is sponsored by Making A Difference of Lebanon, PA, a nonprofit, volunteer community outreach program.
Former Lebanon City Councilman Cornell Wilson is president of Making A Difference. He explained in an email to LebTown that the group’s Education and Arts Committee has teamed up with Gretna Theatre in the past in an effort “to bring theater and arts to the kids and the Community.”
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“This past October we sponsored two shows on bullying performed by Gretna Theatre, and we are also planning a theater camp this summer,” said Wilson.
Next up for the Gretna Theatre will be a one-hour musical on the life American aviator Amelia Earhart touring in March and April.