Chicago's Ghostlight Ensemble to present "Alabama Story"

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

 

The mission of Chicago-based Ghostlight Ensemble is to ask questions that challenge the status quo through timeless stories, immersive environments and unconventional staging.

 

So it only makes sense that it will open its eighth season with "Alabama Story," a drama about censorship, book banning and civil rights set within the framework of 1950s racial tensions. Written by Kenneth Jones and inspired by true events, "Alabama Story" is a drama about a segregationist senator and the state librarian who clash over the content of a children’s book about bunny rabbits against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

 

"Alabama Story" is also the company’s first mainstage show since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. "Alabama Story" will open on Let Freedom Read Day on Sept. 28, part of Banned Books Week.

 

There will be a preview performance at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at After-Words Bookstore, 23 East Illinois St., Chicago, followed by performances on Sept. 28-29 and Oct. 4-6.

 

Performances at Haymarket Books at Haymarket House, 800 W. Buena Ave., Chicago) will take place Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 18-20.

 

Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are pay-what-you-will, with an average donation of $25, and are available at https://ghostlightensembletheatreco.thundertix.com/. 

 

More information about the show can be found at https://www.ghostlightensemble.com/alabama-story.

 

I had the chance to talk to director Holly Robison about the show.

 

Q –  I understand that “Alabama Story" is Ghostlight Ensenble’s first mainstage show since the start of the pandemic. That must make you feel good.

 

Yeah, it's definitely good to be back. It feels good to have such a big project on the horizon.

 

We're a small company and we just wanted to make sure that we had all the resources in place and things that we needed in order to ensure a really successful run. It's exciting and it's really great to finally have a big project to wrap our arms around.

 

Q – Of course, "Alabama Story" is addressing a timely issue as book bans are accelerating across the country. Did you think it was just the right time to put on a production like this?

We're in sort of a new environment where it's not even just going after the books. It's going after the libraries and the librarians and the teachers.

Part of our mission is to do timeless stories and to ask questions. And I think a story like this, even though it's set in the 1950s, shows that there's still sort of nothing new.

It's still happening. It looks a little bit different, but in a lot of ways, it's the same.

Q – Why do you think book bans have come back?

There's a lot of reasons. I don't know if it's any one thing.

When groups of people or marginalized communities start making headway or start becoming prominent, there's a lot of backlash. In "Alabama Story," the focus is sort of on Montgomery, Alabama.

This is happening right after the Montgomery bus boycott. The politicians are in a way reacting towards the gains that were made by that movement and that were continuing to be made in the civil rights era, which was getting stronger and stronger.

That's happening now. As marginalized communities are gaining more and more progress, the reaction is to shut them down, to try and silence that.

It's a reactionary movement. We've seen that throughout history.

Q – How have rehearsals been going?

It's a really amazing cast. I'm so excited for people to see this cast.

They're such great actors.

Q – What do you like in particular about this cast?

 

It's just the thrill of the moment of seeing an actor embody a character and seeing that character come alive before your eyes. I saw that in auditions.

There were so many great actors that came out. You always wish you could cast so many more people than you can.

It was just seeing really great actors embodying these characters and making them come alive in sort of the way that I imagined but also bringing their own creativity to it and creating aspects of the characters that I hadn't thought about before. 

Q – I know that you are a founding member of Ghostlight Ensemble. How did the ensemble come together and what were you looking to achieve through the ensemble?

 

Our mission is to do unconventional staging, unorthodox settings and tell timeless stories that challenge the status quo.

 

So really, what we're looking to do with our ensemble is to just create theater that fulfills our mission and also gives opportunities to our ensemble members. We want to try to give the ensemble members within the company opportunities to do their art, whether they want to be an actor, designer or what have you.

And for people to grow and support each other.

Q – What do you like the best about being a director?

I like being able to realize the story from a lot of different angles. I definitely perform a lot as well and when you're a performer, you're really only controlling your character and making decisions about your character.

I like that I can sort of shape the story more fully. I can figure out how to tell a story and how to make the narrative go along.

I can help actors because I have experience as an actor. It was just something that happened very naturally.