Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting

Written by: Ed Schmidt

Directed by: Jimmie Woody

Assistant Director & Dramaturg by: Tiffany Alexander

Joe Louis, Paul Robeson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Jackie Robinson, and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey meet in 1947 to discuss a strategy for dropping a baseball bombshell: promoting a black to the major leagues. That is the premise of this brilliant and timely play. Issues raised include compensation for the possible demise of the Negro leagues and the advisability of one at a time integration. If you want freedom of opportunity, do you play by the white’s rules or do you demand that he play by yours? inheritance. As a Black man, that’s a tall order. He has a plan to buy back Big Bethel, the community’s church, so that he can preach freedom to the cotton pickers. The church, like the town, is in the grip of racist tyrant Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee.

Run time: 90 minutes (without intermission)

Themes: Racial injustice, Segregation, Exceptionalism, Progress, Power, and Paternalism

Genre: DRAMA, COMEDY

AUDIANCE ADVISORY: PG-13 due to strong language and profanity