THEN AND NOW: A Conversation

Rasheedah Phillips, a Leeway Foundation board member, will be a panelist for THEN AND NOW: A Conversation about urban renewal and eminent domain in the 1960s Pittsburgh of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and in Philadelphia today. The event will be held at Arden Theatre Company (40 N 2nd St) on April 7, in partnership with WHYY’s Keystone Crossroads.

Two Trains Running is a significant and provoking work taking place as the civil rights movement is sweeping across Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1969 and Memphis Lee’s diner is scheduled to be torn down, a casualty of the city’s renovation project. Struggling to cope with a rapidly changing world, Memphis and the diner regulars fight to hang on to their solidarity and sense of community. From Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson comes this masterpiece about everyday lives in the shadow of great events, and of unsung men and women who are anything but ordinary.

Join Arden Theatre Company and host Naomi Starobin from WHYY’s Keystone Crossroads as they talk about the issues in Wilson’s master work and whether things are better or worse today. How have things changed for poor communities of color? How have past urban renewal policies affected the present? Is eminent domain different today than in the late 1960’s? Audience members are encouraged to share their own thoughts and insights and will help steer the course of this important conversation.

Panel Conversation: 7:00 pm
Reception: 8:00 pm