From
Issue #10, Fall 2005
The
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A Readers Theater Production Compiled, Edited and Directed
by Dr. Richard Emanuel
To obtain
a free digital copy of the script discussed here, send your request
to Dr. Richard Emanuel at EmanuelASU@yahoo.com.
This script may be used royalty free. I require only advance notification
of when and where your production will occur and the name of the sponsoring
organization. You may email your advance notification to me at EmanuelASU@yahoo.com.
The
inspiration for "The Montgomery Bus Boycott"
This script was inspired by the students
at Alabama State University (ASU) in Montgomery, Alabama. ASU is an
historically Black college/university (HBCU). Montgomery is rich with
civil rights history - it was the destination for the Selma march, it
was where Rosa Parks sparked the bus boycott, and much more. I teach
Public Speaking and Voice & Diction classes at ASU. My Voice &
Diction classes have a Readers Theater assignment as part of the course
requirement.
After teaching at ASU for three years,
I have observed that many of my students had heard a lot about the bus
boycott, but many do not seem to know much about the pivotal people,
places and events surrounding the boycott. When trying to convey information,
you can tell someone, or you can show someone, or you can involve someone.
Being involved and engaged with some of the people, places, and events
of the bus boycott seemed to make the most sense to me. And with the
50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott on the horizon (December
2005) it made sense to me to pursue this topic. So, I decided to knit
together a tapestry of historical facts, poetic expressions, songs and
personal testimonies that would provide an historic account of the Montgomery
bus boycott.
I relied heavily on the Internet for source
information - historical facts, speech texts, poem texts and the like.
In all of my searching and gathering for this script, I was surprised
to discover that there are only a handful of Readers Theater scripts
which directly address the struggle for civil rights or the bus boycott.
One notable exception is the script "Will the Circle be Unbroken"
produced by the Southern Regional Council.
I decided to take a chronological approach
to the script. I knew that there was much that I would NOT be able to
include the script. The goal was to get a script that could be presented
in less than one hour. My Voice & Diction class meets for about
one hour, and one hour is a conservative audience fatigue threshold.
After gathering the material - most of it electronically - it was time
to put it in chronological order and begin cutting the script down to
size. The script went through five major edits.
I tried to keep to a minimum the amount
of script devoted to facts and dates, but I felt that this anchored
the script and provided the context for the other elements. The historical
accounts really brought the script to life as the readers presented
"first-hand" the stories of various civil rights figures involved
in the boycott. One of the most powerful, of course, is the speech excerpt
by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The
Program
The Montgomery City Code
The Almost Case of Claudette Colvin
The Almost Case of Mary Louise Smith
Parks' Preparation
King's Inspiration
Parks' prior protests
Parks refuses to move
Prior protest plans
Sexual anxieties
Parks, the perfect symbol
MIA Meeting at Holt Street Church
Resolutions
The Boycott
Midway
The Boycott Ends
The Birmingham Pledge
Final
Notes
about the script
The script takes about 30-40 minutes to
perform in its entirety. The title of the various sections is provided
for informational and organizational purposes and is not intended to
be read aloud.
The slash marks (/) indicate an exaggerated
pause. Words within brackets are added to the original text. Words within
brackets in bold-faced type are to be spoken by the entire cast. Most
of these bold-faced words are found in the Dr. King speeches. Italicized
words in parentheses are stage directions. The margins are set at 1"
right margin, 1.5" left margin, and 3" bottom margin. This
provides a format that can be hole-punched and placed in a notebook
for presentation.
The script can be presented in a variety
of ways. You may present it in its entirety or you may pick and choose
which sections you want to use and which you want to omit. I strongly
recommend that every production of "The Montgomery Bus Boycott"
include the Birmingham Pledge. Be sure you provide copies of the Birmingham
Pledge for people to sign or provide the web address where people can
sign the pledge online at http://birminghampledge.org/English.asp.
Notes
about the cast
The original cast consisted of 25 students
enrolled in my Voice & Diction class. Each student was assigned
at least one part. Since the Rosa Parks and Dr. M.L. King parts had
so many lines, I tended to assign fewer other parts to the students
cast in these major roles. I also had two students cast as Dr. M.L.
King - one read King for one presentation, and the other read King for
the other presentation.
The cast was seated on-stage with chairs
arranged in an arc. Readers in the first section would rise and position
themselves center-stage. As they completed their reading, the next group
of readers would position themselves stage-right. As that section was
ending, the next group would position themselves stage-left, and so
on. I generally used this alternating stage location - center, right,
left - throughout the production.
Notes
about costuming
The cast wore dark slacks, dark shoes
and a white shirt. However, there are many places throughout the script
where minor costuming could be used. For example, the Rosa Parks reader
could be dressed much as Mrs. Parks was on the day of her arrest, Dr.
King and Rev. Abernathy could be dressed in a dark suit. A lot of creativity
can be expressed in costuming the various characters.
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