Towne Street Theatre 2012 Reading Series June 19, 2012

Mark V. Jones’ play The In Verdict is set in 1997. It attempts to shed light on a dark seed of racism and hatred within American culture and specifically, within L.A. city limits. A black man has been arrested for the murder of a white L.A.P.D. officer but claims self-defense. How will the new community of Quant Grove react to one of its own being arrested? Will L.A. once again burn and the city be divided by race?
In celebration of the Juneteenth Holiday and the 20th Anniversary of the L.A. Riots, the Towne Street Theatre 2012 Reading Series continues to explore plays that contemplate what has changed (or not), in our society since these watershed events? Blacks were freed January 1, 1863 but are black Americans really free? Does the society in which they’ve been forced to adapt to, to live in, and learned to thrive, really see and accept black Americans as truly freed men?