GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The only Black theatre company in Grand Rapids, Ebony Road Players, is performing the one-act play "Sheepdog" at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) in June.
The performance is a collaboration between the GRAM and Ebony Road Players and will examine police violence, interracial love and class in the 21st century.
"Sheepdog" is a play by Kevin Artigue that follows Amina and Ryan, two officers on the Cleveland police force:
Amina is black, Ryan is white, and they are falling deeply in love. When an officer-involved shooting roils the department, small cracks in their relationship widen into a chasm of confusion and self-doubt. A mystery and a love story with high stakes and no easy answers.
The performances will be at the GRAM on June 16, 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online at EbonyRoad.org/Productions.
“The Grand Rapids Art Museum is pleased to partner with Ebony Road Players in their production of Sheepdog, commemorating Loving Day in West Michigan,” commented GRAM Director of Advancement Elly Barnette-Dawson. “Since 2014, Ebony Road Players has provided our community with high-quality productions, centered on the Black experience, and we’re united in our belief in the power of art to help us better understand the world around us and nurture important conversations around race and social justice."
The performance is in observance of the West Michigan Loving Day Celebration. Loving Day is celebrated on June 12 in observance of the 1967 Supreme Court case of Loving vs Virginia, which struck down laws criminalizing interracial marriage.
“Ebony Road Players is dedicated to providing a theatrical platform for education, social justice and theatre art in West Michigan. Sheepdog fits all three areas through our yearly programming around the West Michigan Loving Day Celebration. The play takes a close look at how policing and race affects one’s outlook when involved in an interracial relationship,” said Edye Evans Hyde, Ebony Road Players Founder/Executive Director.
For more information on the performance and past productions by Ebony Road Players, visit EbonyRoad.org.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
