Director

Andrea J. Dymond

Playwright

Gloria Bond Clunie

Cast

Melanie E. Brezill (Shondra)
Corey Marshaun Cantrell (Buddy)
Aurelia Clunie (Carol Freeman)
Ann Joseph (Angela Freeman)
Kenn E. Head (Frank Freeman)
Samuel G. Roberson, Jr. (Dempsey Freeman)
Cedric Young (Mr. Parks)

Summary

Meet Angela and Frank Freeman, hardworking parents who moved out of the old neighborhood years ago to give their children, Dempsey and Carol, what they never had. Trouble is, Frank is worried he and Angela may have traded away their children’s identites as African Americans in the process. With Carol about to graduate from high school, Frank suggests they move back to the city and join a few families who are trying to make a difference. Angela, however, is too worried about safety. Newly energized by the Million Man March, the Freemans make plans to sell their home, just as they take in 16-year-old Shondra, a bright girl raised in the projects. Can their newfound idealism survive the very real challenges Shondra brings into their home? Living Green explores this and other thorny questions in its story of a well-to-do African American family ‘living green’ in a mostly white Chicago suburb.

Set in 1995, the year of the Million Man March, Living Green looks back at a recent moment in black history while investigating issues seemingly ripped from today’s headlines. What happened to our families as we “moved up” and fled the black neighborhoods that once nurtured us? How do we revitalize our communities? How do we protect our children from the violence that plagues our streets?

Production Team

Andrea J. Dymond – Director
Mary Griswold – Scenic Designer
Judith Lundberg – Costume Designer
Mikhail Fiksel – Sound Designer
Mary Badger – Lighting Designer
Jaclyn Holsey – Stage Manager