LSUS to stage ‘A Lesson Before Dying’ in University Theater 09/17/03

“A Lesson Before Dying,” a play by Romulus Linney adapted from the novel by Louisiana author Ernest J. Gaines, will be staged by the LSUS Communications Department at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 19-21) in the LSUS University Theater.

Directed by Robert Alford, an LSUS assistant professor of communications, the play is a powerful story of two young black men, each in his own way trapped in a small Louisiana town in the late 1940s.

“Gaines’ celebrated novel makes an engrossing, moving and finally devastating play for the stage,” Alford said.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door; $5 for LSUS faculty, staff and students, educators, seniors, military and groups of 5 or more. Advance tickets are available at the LSUS bookstore, 797-5302. Tickets will also available at the door one hour before performance.

Condemned to die in the electric chair for a crime he didn’t commit, “Jefferson” gives up on everybody, including himself. His grandmother, however, wants him to die like a man and enlists the help of “Grant Wiggins,” a disillusioned schoolteacher struggling to quit his poor parish school and leave the South. Over the course of several months the two men teach each other about being a man, about heroism, and about living – and dying – with dignity.

Cast members include H. Delvecchio Wesley as Jefferson, Charles Montgomery as Grant Wiggins, Keesha Bishop as Vivian Baptiste, Joseph Jacobs as Rev. Ambrose, Alan Mathison as Paul Bonin, Chris Pierce as Sam Guidry, and Barbara Stewart as Emma Glenn. Montgomery is also serving as assistant director, technical director and set designer, Mollie Schmelzer is handling lighting design and Megan Richardson is the stage manager.

For more information, contact Alford at 797-5283 or ralford@lsus.edu.