Drama.  About 120 minutes.  Flexible cast of 12-50.  Suitable for middle school and older performers, audiences of all ages.  First performance:  $80 (this includes permission to make copies of the script as necessary for your production).  Each additional performance:  $60.  Professional rights should be negotiated directly with YouthPLAYS at info@youthplays.com.

An originally researched, award-winning dream play commissioned by Children's Theatre of Charlotte, exploring the history of race relations in the region and the landmark desegregation case, Swann v. Charlotte/Mechlenberg Board of Education.

Prefer to print your perusal script?  YouthPLAYS is happy to provide printable PDF files of our plays for customers who would prefer to evaluate material offline.  Just click the Place an Order button above and select the Printable Perusal option.  A printable copy of this play is $7.50.  Our non-printable perusals will, of course, continue to be free.

Two families assemble in the hospital room of an unconscious young African-American girl injured in a public school riot. Suddenly the realistic world melts away as Jim Crow, a giant trickster bird, emerges signaling our entrance into the world of dream. Events in Charlotte history from World War II through the first successful use of busing for racial integration all appear in wildly exaggerated imagery as the two families struggle to maintain friendships through the many tests. WWII joins the young women of the two families in lifelong friendship. It also alters the perspective of the men as African-American soldiers rescue wounded white soldiers on the beaches of Normandy. Jim Crow, however, continues creating conflict upon their return to America. Segregated buses, lack of employment opportunities, and legalistic tricks all presented in slapstick fashion challenge the spirit of togetherness until Thurgood Marshall appears as a western sheriff and shoots down the Plessy Gang.