Freedom Riders’ matinee performance coming to Purdue on Jan. 28

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Mad River Theater Works will bring “Freedom Riders” to Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse on Jan. 28 at 3 p.m. This family matinee performance is presented by Purdue Convocations with support from the Purdue Black Cultural Center.

Learn more about the Freedom Riders and peaceful protests through displays and activities presented by the Purdue Black Cultural Center at 2 p.m. in the Stewart Center’s lobby. 

A new play with original songs and music presented by Mad River Theater Works, “Freedom Riders,” celebrates the valiant, courageous personalities behind one of the American Civil Rights Movement’s most critical chapters. In 1961, a full 15 years after the United States Supreme Court outlawed segregation, bus lines and Southern cities continued to rigidly enforce the separation of black and white citizens. The Freedom Riders were a group of everyday heroes — black and white, North and South — who bravely banded together in defiance of this status quo. They traveled together on buses, across state lines, to stand against discrimination and throw a national spotlight on racial violence. “Freedom Riders” is the latest addition to the canon of American history plays for Mad River Theatre Works, a company that illuminates stories from America’s backroads and small towns and examines the complex choices Americans face as a collective culture and community. “Freedom Riders” thoughtfully demonstrates the importance of collaboration to effect change and how non-violent protests focused the nation’s mind on intolerable cruelties of segregation. The timeless, inspiring story of these unforgettable heroes and their achievements is essential to fully understanding the Civil Rights Era and American history itself. 

This performance is a Purdue Convocations Family Matinee. Area students also will have the opportunity to see this performance on Jan. 29.   

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Stewart Center box office at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Group tickets are also available to groups of 10 more. Call 765-496-1977 for more details or visit https://purdue.edu/convocations/group-sales/.

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations was one of the first professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theater, dance, children's theater, world music, jazz, and chamber music, along with rock, pop, country and comedy attractions. With a vision for connecting artists and audiences in artistic dialogue and for drawing in academic discourse, Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media. 

Source: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu 

Note to Journalists: Publication-quality photos are available at http://www.convocations.org/press