In 1930, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith were publicly tortured then murdered by a white mob in Marion, Indiana. The Lawrence Beitler photograph capturing the aftermath of this double lynching became an iconic symbol of America’s long history of racial terrorism.
The Gospel According to James delves into the events that led up to that night through a fictional meeting between an adult James Cameron, who was the third teenager arrested alongside Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, and Mary Ball, the woman who was at the center of it all.
Photo: Liz Lauren
They survived history. But whose history?
As their past and present lives intermingle, Cameron and Ball discover that their remembrances of that day differ even if their experiences were the same – challenging us all to wrestle with the tensions between unreliable personal memory, what we believe to be an immutable public history, and redemption.
The Gospel According to James was commissioned in 2006 by the Indiana Repertory Theatre. It was produced in 2011 by the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The production was directed by Goodman Theater artistic associate Chuck Smith and featured Marcus Davis Hendricks as Tommy Shipp, Tyler Jacob Rollinson as Abe Smith, Linda Kimbrough as Marie Ball, Anthony Peeples as Apples, Kelsey Brennan as Mary Ball, Keith D. Gallagher as Claude, Christopher Jon Martin as Hoot Ball, Diane Kondrat as Bea Ball, and André De Shields as James Cameron.
The set design was by Linda Buchanan, costume design by Rachel Anne Healey, lighting design by Kathy A. Perkins, and sound design and original composition by Ray Nardelli. The stage managers were Nathan Garrison and Joel Grynheim. The commission and production were supported in part by a Joyce Award.
The Indiana Rep production moved to Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago and featured Zach Kenney as Claude and Wardell Julius Clark as Tommy Shipp.
Casting Requirement: 6 men, 2, women, multiracial cast.
Available through Swallow Press