Displaying items by tag: Emmett Till

Collaboraction Theatre Company is thrilled to announce its inaugural production at Chicago’s newest live theater space, Collaboraction’s new House of Belonging in Humboldt Park: 

Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, the company’s award-winning live docudrama, will return in its most fully realized form yet. Featuring a powerhouse ensemble of returning artists and new voices, this urgent, unforgettable theatrical event invites audiences to confront the truth, honor a legacy, and experience history as if it were happening today.

A series of sneak-peek events will kick off in late January at Collaboraction’s new home in the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Ave in Humboldt Park.

Previews of Trial in the Delta, Sunday, February 1 and Thursday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m., will be part of the Grand Opening build-up. Collaboraction’s Grand Opening Performance and Ritual Celebration is Friday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. 

Performances of Trial in the Delta continue through March 15th: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. (Exception: No
3 p.m. show Saturday, February 7.) Run time is approximately one hour 50 minutes, including a short Crucial Conversation after every performance. Tickets are $25-$55, and go on sale today at collaboraction.org. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for information on group discounts.

“As Collaboraction turns 30 and opens our new House of Belonging in Humboldt Park, we couldn't co-dream a more relevant first production than Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, bringing to life the trial that served as a catalyst of the start of the Civil Rights movement," said Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley. "When Mamie Till said that ‘everybody's business is my business,’ it’s as if she had a dream for a Beloved Community. We are honored to be a part of her legacy and manifesting our new space for arts, youth, social justice and community.”

Collaboraction, now open in the Kimball Arts Center, is a sleek, 4,000-square foot space featuring a new 99-seat flexible studio theater and a 50-seat cabaret with cafe/bar. Free and nearby street parking is available. For CTA riders, the 82 Kimball-Homan bus stops right in front of the building. The theater is also a short walk from the Kimball stop on the 72 North and 73 Armitage bus lines. For bikers and pedestrians, the Kimball trailhead on The 606 leads directly to the Kimball Arts Center.

On September 20, 1955, the trial of the men who murdered Emmett Till began—and the world would never be the same. In Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, Collaboraction transforms the original, long-buried trial transcript into a gripping, immersive theatrical experience that places audiences face-to-face with the people whose testimony shaped the civil rights movement.

Co-adapted by Willie Round and G. Riley Mills and co-directed by Anthony Moseley and Dana Anderson, Trial in the Delta unfolds like a live reenactment of the actual proceedings in Sumner, Mississippi. Actors seated among the audience rise to become witnesses for the prosecution and defense—including the trailblazing Mamie Till-Bradley, bringing raw, unfiltered history to life.

Born from a groundbreaking collaboration with NBC5 Chicago, Trial in the Delta won a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary, two Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards and a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. Collaboraction grew the teleplay into a full-length, immersive theatrical experience that had two short runs at the DuSable Black History Museum. The final live performance in February 2023 was professionally filmed and has been screened for groups including the The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the First Circuit Court of Philadelphia. 

Now, Collaboraction’s live production will receive its most ambitious staging yet to inaugurate the company’s new House of Belonging. Boasting a dynamic cast of returning favorites and bold new talent, this multi-week run invites audiences to bear witness, honor Emmett Till’s legacy, interrogate America’s past, and ignite urgent conversation for our present.

Collaboraction’s path to its new House of Belonging

After departing its previous space of 10 years in Wicker Park’s Flat Iron Building at the start of the pandemic, Collaboraction leaders scouted more than two dozen spaces on Chicago’s south and west sides before breaking ground in Humboldt Park in March 2025

Today, in what used to be a pet store, Collaboraction boasts a sleek, 4,000-square foot space with a new 99-seat flexible studio theater plus a 50-seat cabaret with a cafe/bar. The company has begun activating both spaces with live theater, spoken word, music, dance, film, improv, workshops, community meetings and special events, produced by Collaboraction and with guest artists and companies. Collaboraction’s House of Belonging is also home to The Light, the company’s paid youth artist-activist program.

Collaboraction’s 99-seat performance space is a clean, hi-tech flexible studio with state-of-the-art light, sound and video equipment, including an HD multicam system ready to stream live and recorded content worldwide. The theater also serves as a digital studio for video projects and a learning space for youth interested in careers in production and tech. Collaboraction’s tech booth was intentionally designed to be ADA compliant, unlike most booths in Chicago theaters. Backstage, artists and staff have access to two brand new dressing rooms, bathrooms, storage, green room/office space and an exterior dock.

At Collaboraction’s groundbreaking in February 2025, Chicago 26th Ward Alderperson Jessie Fuentes said, “Poetry, theater and hip-hop saved my life when I was young and looking for community growing up in Humboldt Park. It was art that made me a politician. So this groundbreaking means more to young people and families than many of you may believe.“

To manifest its new home, Collaboraction has launched a $3 million House of Belonging capital campaign. The campaign kicked off with a $200,000 grant from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Other lead supporters include The Paul M. Angell Foundation, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, The LaChapelle Family Foundation, Kerry James Marshall and Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Cordogan, Clark & Associates, AV Chicago and ETC’s Light the Way Program. collaboraction.org/our-new-house-of-belonging

Collaboraction’s design and construction team was led by Cordogan, Clark & Associates, Evan Williams and John Clark, project architects; with general contractor Troy Riley, Oakwood Construction, and Collaboraction company member John Ross Wilson. AV Chicago, ETC, and Kerry James Marshall and Cheryl Lynn Bruce came together to support high production values. AV Chicago, a top Chicago provider of production solutions for live and virtual events, provided high-end gear, technical expertise and installation services. ETC, a leading supplier of lighting solutions and control equipment for theater, film, TV, architectural spaces and entertainment industries, provided lighting equipment through its Light the Way Program.

About Collaboraction

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, Collaboraction is an award-winning Chicago theater company that uses immersive, socially conscious performance to spark change and build equity. Across all platforms, Collaboraction uses its KEDA methodology - Knowledge, Empathy, Dialogue, and Action - to spark changes in behavior and attitudes that manifest social change.

Collaboraction’s work includes NBC Chicago’s three-time Emmy Award-winning The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Trial in the Delta, the resulting live stage play film, Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, live productions of Crime Scene, Moonset Sunrise, A Blue Island In the Red Sea, its annual Peacebook and Sketchbook festivals, and its youth ensemble, The Light.

Collaboraction receives generous operating support and program funding from the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family, Gary Grube, the Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts at the Chicago Community Foundation, Naperville Rotary Club, Field Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Collaboraction is led by Darlene Jackson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director; Anthony Moseley, Chief Programming Officer and Artistic Director; and a dedicated board, company members and staff.

For more, visit collaboraction.org or follow Collaboraction onFacebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Bluesky.

As we drove away from Lifeline Theatre I asked my companion what she thought of From the Mississippi Delta. “I have no words yet,” she said. “I’m still just reveling in delight.”

This play is indeed delightful. Even when eleven-year-old Phelia is raped; even when she and Aunt Baby are squashing cockroaches; even when her own town shuns her – even these scenes manage to delight without ever compromising the gravity of the story.

And the best part is it’s all true! Dr Endesha Ida Mae Holland (1944-2006) wrote the play From the Mississippi Delta based on her memoir/autobiography of the same name (which you can purchase in the lobby). As author and as playwright, Dr. Holland, professor emeritus of theatre at University of Southern California, chronicles her journey from dirt-farm poverty and the brutality of 1950’s Jim Crow, enduring rape and prostitution before finding herself in civil rights activism. It took twenty years, but Dr Holland completed her bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota. From the Mississippi Delta is a testament to Holland’s perseverance, and to the myriad sheroes who encouraged and sustained her.

The play, brilliantly directed by Lifeline Theatre’s Artistic Director ILesa Duncan, includes dozens of characters, all played by the cast of three actors: LaKecia Harris, Arielle Leverett, and Jenise Sheppard, billed in the program as Woman 1, Woman 2, and Woman 3. Harris and Sheppard alternate playing Phelia while Leverett primarily represents her mother, Aunt Baby. Aunt Baby’s artistry as a midwife leads a local (white, male – of course) doctor to call her ‘the second doctor’. The scene in which she rotates and delivers a breech baby left me stunned.

The play begins with the women relating hideous vignettes, beginning with Emmett Till, and each account ends with the words ‘This is the Mississippi Delta. This is where I was born and grew up’. After a handful of stories, they begin singing “Trouble in Mind”; that’s when I fell under their spell. Throughout the play they brilliantly perform at least a dozen iconic selections from blues and spirituals. Music Director Ricky Harris and Sound Director Deon Custard collaborate to meld the music perfectly with the action and with external and peripheral sound effects. Harris’ decision to forego accompaniment or instrumentation is inspired, as the three magnificent voices are enriched by a capella performance.

FunFact of the Day:  the a capella genre originated with African Americans singing in African American barbershops: the original barbershop quartets.  

(Top to Bottom) Arielle Leverett as Woman 2, Jenise Sheppard as Woman 3, and LaKecia Harris as Woman 1; in Lifeline Theatre and Pegasus Theatre’s “From the Mississippi Delta.”

Scenic Designer Angela Weber Miller’s amazing multi-level set has several doors and other options for egress, which choreographer Tanji Harper makes adroit use of to allow the three actors to instill a phenomenal amount of detail into each scene. Props Designer Wendy Ann caches props and bits of costumery (designed by Gregory Graham) all about the set, allowing the actors to change character by simply donning an apron or shucking a hat. The sparse furniture onstage is just as versatile: an ironing board converts to a birthing bed and later becomes grandstand seats for Phelia’s debut as a stripper. The transformations are skillfully abetted by Lighting Designer Levi J Wilkins. Stage Manager Roxie Kooi stitches it all together into an amazing package for Production Manager Adi Davis.

Everything lately seems to need an Intimacy consultant – even the American Ballet Theatre recently used one for a pas de deux – and Gregory Geffrard keeps the actors on the good side of the fine line separating stimulating from stodgy. 

An African American deep-south accent is tough to pull off without sounding like Amos & Andy, so my hat’s off to Dialect Coach Shadana Patterson. Her job was made even tougher by the fact that white folks are notoriously challenged by African American dialects and accents. In fact, though I was encouraged to see the theatre more than 2/3-full, it was almost totally lacking Black faces, which I find both surprising and concerning.,

My melanin deficiency invalidates my opinion, but I’m going to give it anyway: I think African Americans, particularly Black women, would very much enjoy From the Mississippi Delta. It exposes the singular brutality lurking at the intersection of bigotry and misogyny. It is a testimonial to the strength and resilience of Black women, a hymn to the human spirit. 

Look -- if for no other reason, go for the music.  See From the Mississippi Delta and be transported by these three magnificent voices.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The start of the civil rights movement was not Rosa Parks refusal to leave her seat on a bus. The civil rights movement started when the photo of 14-year-old Emmett Till, laying in his coffin beaten beyond recognition was graphically published on the cover of Jet Magazine for the world to bear witness. He was the victim of a heinous attack by brothers Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam.

“Trial in the Delta” is a reenactment of the trial held at the Tallahatchie County courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi on September 23, 1955. This reenactment took 2 hours thanks to the laborious job of paring down 5 days of actual court transcripts into a cohesive 2-hour production. The adaptation by G. Riley Mills and Willie Round was sharp and concise making the arguments of both sides extremely clear.

It had to be difficult directing a production where everyone knows the outcome and keep it fresh and new, yet this is exactly what the directing team of Dana N. Anderson and Anthony Moseley accomplished. They made the audience spectators to this miscarriage of justice. They never took the easy road of playing on emotions. They went for words that were spoken they went for intent. They were aided by a spectacular cast.

Although their backs were to the audience most of the time, the body language of JW Milam (Matt Miles) and Roy Bryant (Tyler Burke) spoke volumes. There were times I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Prosecutor Gerald Chatham (Andy Luther) pushed and pleaded knowing it was all in vain while Defense Atty. JJ Breland (Steve Silver) played verbal gymnastics with the witnesses knowing he had the upper hand. All the witnesses that took the stand had different perspectives. I felt the fear of Moses Wright (Darren Jones) as he pointed. Undertaker Chester Miller (Lyle Miller) was dignified as his profession required. The testimony that gripped me was Carolyn Bryant (Maddy Brown).  It was alarming. The work that Carolyn Bryant put into that story and the way Maddie Brown brought that story to life made me pinch myself. I realized this is a tactic that’s been around forever, and it still works. The way Bryant/Brown weaponized her tears broke my heart. It was evident this trial was over, and these men would be free. Mamie Bradley (Kayla Franklin) remained stoic thru all the proceeding even when was her turn to take the stand. Her last speech is powerful.

Looking at the program for this production, I noticed there are major people in the theatre community associated with this production and it shows. DuSable Museum, while not my favorite place to see a play, made this production work. The set is a maple wood courtroom. To the left of the witness box are 12 empty seats. The Jury…..12 White men.  Whenever the jury came or left the courtroom, we see a projection of 12 white men entering of leaving and we hear their footsteps. There are maple bannisters separating the Attorneys from the spectators.

Witnesses are seated throughout the audience and as they are called walk up to the witness stand and are sworn in.

This production is an example of how systemic racism works and as such would not be shown in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law the Stop-Woke (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, which prohibits educational institutions and businesses from teaching students and employees anything that would cause anyone to feel guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress due to their race, color, sex or national origin. I’m sure this production was not created to cause any undo harm or guilt. This is not only African American history, but also American History.

When: Through February 19th - 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, 740 E. 56th Pl.

Tickets: $30-$55

Info: Collaboraction.org