A Look Back: 2017-18 Black and White Season

Read about CAST’s Black and White season below and then check out this great documentary that students produced that year.

CAST students and directors collaborated on this fascinating documentary. It includes student reflections on the plays, student interviews of local officials and conversations with guest directors Ty Perry and Katherine Lofton about their experiences in life and theatre.

The 2017-2018 Season began with a solar eclipse. Somehow this seemed fitting for CAST’s Black and White season. All of the shows that season tackled race relations both in the U.S. and abroad.

As Bill McGlynn explained in the playbill that season:

“The plays we chose this season are reflective of a larger national conversation about race in our country today. But of course, it is never too far in the back of minds here in Oak Park. The Black and White season shows collectively are an active challenge to reductive thinking in black and white. Best of all, they offer a path that may start in poor choices and bad judgments, but still end in a just, equitable and inclusive outlook.

“Like the eclipse—which I expected to be only about darkness and light but included a whole range of colors during the full eclipse—I hope the 2017-18 season has many more colors for our students and families in the audience. Race relations are never really just black and white. We hope our students continue looking for all the colors of the rainbow in the world around them. No special glasses needed to witness the wonders of CAST. Just an open mind and a suspension of disbelief.”

In addition to shows such as The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963, Aftershock, and Bud Not Buddy, CAST students and directors collaborated on the above documentary that explores many of the issues of Black Lives Matter.