DILLARD - Lillian E. Smith, the Clayton writer and civil rights pioneer, comes to life on stage in a one-woman play by Atlanta actor and playwright Brenda Bynum May 9 in Dillard.
The Piedmont College Lillian E. Smith Center in Clayton will present Bynum’s “Jordan is So Chilly: An Encounter with Lillian Smith,” based on published and unpublished writings and dialogue from the acclaimed Georgia author and social justice advocate. The performance is scheduled for 4 p.m., May 9, in the Dillard Playhouse at 892 Franklin Street, Dillard. A wine reception will follow.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.piedmont.edu/brenda-bynum-tickets or ordered by mail, with checks payable to Piedmont College and sent to Craig Amason, Piedmont College, P.O. Box 429, Demorest GA 30535. For more information, contact Amason at 706-894-4204.
An actor and director since 1973, Bynum served as the Acting Teacher for the nationally known Professional Intern Program at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. From 1983 to 2000 she was a Resident Artist and member of the faculty at Emory University in the Department of Theater Studies.
The title of the play is from an African-American spiritual, “Jordan is So Chilly,” which was Smith’s original title for “Strange Fruit,” her best-selling novel about the horrors of lynching. “The title calls up for me the image of the difficult times faced by anyone in crossing over to the ‘promised land,’” Bynum said. “Lillian Smith faced so many trials and tribulations in her life and her work, it seemed quite appropriate to me.”
In addition to unpublished writings, Bynum drew on books, letters, and a television interview Smith did in the 1960s in writing the play. “It is an intimate conversation with the audience and is intended to be deeply personal and reveal the woman and the artist behind the icon,” she said. “For me, it has been a true labor of love to bring her back to life in this way, and I have been extremely gratified by the responses to her story, particularly from the many people who are hearing her story for the first time. What I want is for her name to be as familiar to any reading Georgian (and beyond) as the names of Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, Alice Walker, and even Margaret Mitchell. A Lillian Smith renaissance is far overdue.”
Sponsors for the event include John and Martha Ezzard–Tiger Mountain Vineyards; Carl and Carla Fackler–Stonewall Creek Vineyards; Harry Norman Realtors Luxury Lake and Mountain–The Lake Team; Lake Rabun Association Foundation; Carol and Steve Raeber; Barbara and Hank Roper; South State Bank; and the Waterfall Country Club.
The Planning Committee includes Barbara Roper (chair), Hank Roper, Robert Pittman, Anita Pittman, Michael McGaughey, Craig Kettles, Becky Callahan, Tom Callahan, Marlee Price, Alan Price, Carol Raeber, and Steve Raeber.
