A pioneering series of citywide events about the plays’ themes in The Till Trilogy Reflection Series. Produced in partnership with over 20 cultural organizations, this series of concerts, readings and panels will offer DMV audiences in every ward and beyond opportunities to creatively engage with the plays’ timely themes of justice and activism.

The Reflection Series is generously underwritten by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities DC, and Leslie Scallet Lieberman & Maury Lieberman.

Past events in the reflection series

AUGUST

WED 31 | 7PM
Activating Justice Through Theater
Location: Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center
presented in collaboration with the Morris Cafritz Center for Social Responsibility, Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center

The Till Trilogy sneak peek with playwright Ifa Bayeza and discussion led by Amir Ali of the MacArthur Justice Center, with panelists Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project and Anita Gonzalez of Georgetown University’s Racial Justice Institute.

SEPTEMBER

FRI 2 | 6PM
Behind the Scenes at Fences: Othering & Belonging - Shifting the Narrative with increased Representation in Arts & Sports
Location: Olney Theatre Center
presented in collaboration with Olney Theatre Center

A conversation about representation in the arts and sports, particularly where we are now in shifting this narrative towards accessibility and inclusivity. Panelists include Mosaic playwright-in-residence Psalmayene 24, Director of Professional Growth Systems at Montgomery County Public Schools Yolanda Stanislaus, and co-founder of the Arts Administrators of Color network Ariel Elizabeth Davis. 

SAT 10 | 2PM
The Till Trilogy Sneak Peek and Discussion
Location: Anacostia Community Museum
presented in collaboration with the Anacostia Community Museum

Playwright Ifa Bayeza will read scenes from The Till Trilogy and share insightful conversation with Dr. Melanie A. Adams, Director of the Anacostia Community Museum, for ages 10 and up.

THU 22 | 7PM
Live! at the Library: Reflections from the Past, Present and Future featuring Ifa Bayeza, the Washington National Opera, and Howard University
Location: Library of Congress
Presented in collaboration with the Library of Congress

Free preview of The Till Trilogy with playwright Ifa Bayeza, who will share her research on Till that served as the inspiration for her plays and connections to the Library’s collections. The evening will continue with a performance from the Washington National Opera, and a “voices from the archive” performance by a group of actors from Howard University. The Library’s Manuscript and Prints & Photographs divisions will display collection items pertaining to Till.

TUE 27 | 7PM
Race, Racial Justice, & Their Intersections with Art: A Conversation and Reading w/ Poet Terrance Hayes, Moderated by Poet Teri Ellen Cross Davis
Location: Hill Center
Presented in collaboration with Folger Shakespeare Library and Hill Center

MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient Terrance Hayes joins Folger Shakespeare Library Poetry Programs manager Teri Ellen Cross Davis for an in-depth conversation about the intersection of racial justice and art and its power to illuminate America’s unresolved issues of race.

THU 29 | 7PM
Blue Chakra Lounge Spoken Word and Open Mic Event 
Eaton Hotel, DC
Produced in collaboration with Aggrey Co at the Eaton Hotel

Inspired by the blue chakra’s association with your capacity to express your genuine self and converse freely, Blue Chakra Lounge is a fly atmosphere, bomb drinks, amazing food, and live music. The mic will be open, the band can play anything–the secret ingredient is you. Performers encouraged to register beforehand.

OCTOBER

SUN 2 | 7PM
South African artists Refiloe Lepere and Itumeleng Moeketsi in performance
Location: DC Public Library, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
Presented in collaboration with the Racial Justice Institute at Georgetown University

Refiloe Lepere and Itumeleng Moeketsi present Recipes, Remedies, and Rumors, drawing parallels between the legacy of Emmett Till and South Africa’s history of state terror and unbridled racism. The artists explore the complexity of stolen lives, the remnants of those left behind, and the recipes that reshape lives whole again. This is a meditation on personal histories, justice, accountability, and radical wholeness by any means necessary. 

WED 12 | 7:30PM - Shakespeare Hour Live with Till Trilogy director Talvin Wilks, playwright Ifa Bayeza, and dramaturg Faedra Carpenter
Virtual event with Shakespeare Theatre Company

Host Dr. Drew Lichtenberg welcomes Till Trilogy creatives, noted playwright Ifa Bayeva, acclaimed director Talvin Wilks, and decorated dramaturg and theatre and performance studies scholar Faedra Chatard Carpenter, to discuss this rare theatrical event honoring the ongoing fight for racial justice in America.

SAT 15 | after 3PM matinee
Post-Show Conversation - Standing on the Frontlines: Black Mothers as Civil Rights Leaders
featuring Marion Gray Hopkins and Pamela Brooks of the Coalition of Concerned Mothers and Life After Release
moderated by Kristen Jackson, Connectivity Manager at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center
Produced in collaboration with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

THU 20 | 4PM
Cabinet Conversation: The Emmett Till Antilynching Act
A virtual event co-presented with Ford’s Theatre

Cabinet Conversations returns on the Ford's Theatre Social Channels with a discussion on the Emmett Till Antilynching Act with Louis Lopez, Federal Civil Rights Attorney, Dr. Hilary N. Green, James B. Duke Professor of Africana Studies at Davidson College, and playwright Ifa Bayeza.

SAT 22 | 10AM-Noon
Bearing Witness and Holding Space: Using Creativity to Address Tragic Events
Location: Imagination Stage
Presented in partnership with Imagination Stage

Mosaic Partner Imagination Stage presents an educator workshop developed as part of the Reflection Series. “Bearing Witness and Holding Space: Using Creativity to Address Tragic Events,” is inspired by the themes related to tragedy in a community that are embodied in The Till Trilogy. The Imagination Stage workshop will focus on developmentally-appropriate ways to address tragic events with young people, either within or outside of their communities, in a way that allows them to process without inducing (more) trauma.

Limited seating available. Free event for educators.

SAT 22 | 2:30PM, prior to matinee performance
Telling Our Own Story: The Power of Black Journalism
featuring Dorothy Gilliam and Dr. Natalie Hopkinson, Associate Professor of Media, Democracy and Society at American University
moderated by Triza Cox, Associate Artistic Director of Theatre for Change, Imagination Stage
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center

THU 27
The Signature Show
The Signature Show featuring an original song inspired by The Till Trilogy.
A virtual event co-presented with Signature Theatre

SAT 29 | 6-7:30PM
The Push for the Emmett Till National Park
featuring National Parks Conservation Association President & CEO Theresa Pierno, Cultural Resources Director Dr. Alan Spears, and Benjamin Saulsberry of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, MS
Location: Mozzeria (1300 H St NE)
Produced in collaboration with the National Parks Conservation Association

SUN 30 | after 3PM matinee
Affecting Change through Creative Expression
Millennium Arts Salon hosts a discussion with artists Amber Robles Gordon, Sheldon Scott, and Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center

NOVEMBER

SAT 5 | after 3PM matinee
Post-Show Conversation - Reflections on Justice In Our City
Activists, advocates, and change-makers Beatrice Evans, Qiana Johnson, and Professor Saleema Snow in conversation with ACLU-DC Executive Director Monica Hopkins
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center
Produced in collaboration with ACLU-DC

FRI 11 | after 8PM performance
Chicago Connections
Featuring Enna Aikens, granddaughter of the founder of A.A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Home, which held Emmett Till’s funeral, and Kemati Porter of Chicago's eta Creative Arts Foundation.

SAT 12 | after 3PM matinee
Chicago Connections
Conversation with Carol Booker, widow of Simeon Booker, the pioneering journalist who brought Till's story to the world and a main character featured in That Summer in Sumner
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center

SAT 15 | 6:30PM
Reconstructing: A Community Happening
Internationally renowned, Brooklyn-based ensemble The TEAM will present an excerpt of their ongoing project Reconstructing, a Round House Theatre commission, in which they wrestle with how cross-racial intimacy can be achieved in America and within their own company. After the sharing, join the artists in an active discussion of the project and how these challenging themes impact our own community here in the DMV.
Location: Busboys & Poets (2004 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE)
Presented in collaboration with Round House Theatre

SAT 16
In Their Own Voices: Black Playwrights Writing History
Till Trilogy playwright Ifa Bayeza and The High Ground playwright Nathan Alan Davis in conversation about their plays, how they are both engaging with living African American history, and why now is an exciting time to be a playwright.
A virtual event co-presented with Arena Stage

ONGOING

Art as Response to Tragedy Professional Development Curriculum for Educators, provided by Imagination Stage

The till trilogy

By IFA BAYEZA | Directed by TALVIN WILKS

OCT 4 – NOV 20, 2022 

The Till Trilogy is a series of plays by noted playwright Ifa Bayeza that reflect on the life, death, and legacy of Emmett Till, whose murder in 1955 remains one of the most pivotal moments in American history. Under the direction of the acclaimed Talvin Wilks, the three plays — The Ballad of Emmett Till, Benevolence, and the world premiere That Summer in Sumner — will star 10 actors performing in rotating repertory for the first time. Filled with music, poetry, and imagination, this rare theatrical event will honor the ongoing fight for racial justice in our country and offer audiences of all ages an opportunity for collective reckoning, reflection, and response.