BY: Kathleen McGhee Anderson, Murray Horwitz,
Nathan Louis Jackson, and Nikkole Salter
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THE STORY: May 1961. Four young American students join others aboard a southbound bus in Washington, DC to challenge segregated spaces in interstate travel, and ended up changing themselves and the nation forever. Inspired by real events. Play conceived by Ricardo Khan. Commissioned by the University of Missouri, Kansas City Graduate Acting department.
Full lenghth
Ensemble Cast with 4 Principal Parts
World Premiere Production UMKC, 2015 l to r: Petey McGee and Emily Nan Phillips Photo Credit: Brian Paulette
World Premiere Production UMKC, 2015 l to r: Petey McGee and Emily Nan Phillips Photo Credit: Brian Paulette
World Premiere Production UMKC, 2015 l to r: Emily Nan Phillips, Daniel Fleming, Mariem Diaz, Edwin Brown III and Michael Thayer Photo Credit: Brian Paulette
World Premiere Production UMKC, 2015 l to r: Petey McGee and Emily Nan Phillips Photo Credit: Brian Paulette
FREEDOM RIDER received this production at the Shelter Theatre at the University of Missouri, Kansas City May 1 - 10, 2015. The production directed by Ricardo Khan. FREEDOM RIDER received its world premiere co-production at the Alabama Shakespeare Company and at Crossroads Theatre from April 8 - June 26, 2022, also directed by Ricardo Khan.
Starring: Edwin Brown III, Mariem Diaz, Daniel Fleming, Josh Gilman, Maya
Jackson, Petey McGee, Aaron Mitchell, Frank Oakley III, Aishah Ogbeh, Emily
Nan Phillips, Darrell Ramsey, Michael Thayer, Caroline Cuchetich and Cydia White
Lighting Design: Devorah Kengmana Scenic Design: Alexander LaFrance
Costume Design: Marc Vital Sound Design: Sarah Putts
Music Director: Mia Ramsey Projection Design: Heather Crocker
Fight Director: Scott Stackhouse Props: Trevor Frederiksen
Production Manager: Sadie DeSantis
Stage Manager: Lacey Willis
LINKS to PRESS and REVIEWS​ from UMCK/KC Rep Production
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Kansas City Star - ‘Freedom Rider,’ at UMKC, is about youth, courage and faith
By: ROBERT TRUSSELL 04/29/2015
"In addition to McGhee-Anderson and Jackson, Khan invited playwright/actress Nikkole Salter and writer Murray Horwitz (“Ain’t Misbehavin’”) to participate. McGhee-Anderson wrote about the young woman from Detroit. Salter created a piece on the woman from California. Jackson wrote about the Howard University student, and Horwitz created a character for the Jewish student. “These writers are people I really admire and love as artists and as people,” Khan said."
KCUR: More Than 50 Years Later, Taking Another 'Freedom Ride
By: STEVE WALKER 05/01/2015
"Khan entrusted four playwrights — Murray Horwitz, Nathan Louis Jackson, Kathleen McGhee Anderson, and Nikkole Salter — to create four young characters whose stories would lend the play a narrative focus."
Review: Kansas City Pitch - FREEDOM RIDER
By: Deborah Hirsch 05/05/2015
"Based on actual events, the deeply affecting play, taking place in 1961, draws on this country's long, familiar history of inequality and the inevitable tensions that erupt...Conceived and directed by Ricardo Khan, this original work — a collaborative effort with playwrights Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, Murray Horwitz, Nathan Louis Jackson and Nikkole Salter — is a strikingly staged, powerful, sometimes funny and ultimately uplifting story of young civil rights workers, black and white."