Coffy Davis

September 10, 2009

A different kind of production will be taking stage Friday at the Reynolds Performance Hall on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. It's a bit of theater that's designed to take you places, but that's not the only reason it's set in an airport.

The one-night-only show is the play Freedom, written by Little Rock's Jennifer Davis. It tells the story of eight characters from varied backgrounds all bound for New York who end up delayed in the St. Louis airport. Though at first the characters are judgmental of each other, their conversations, combined with frequent flashes of the characters' pasts and even glimpses at their futures, begin to reveal that the gulfs dividing them aren't as vast the qualities they all share to make them human.

"It's a very socially conscious play," said Davis, 32, who explained that the work tackles tense issues like race, religion and sexual orientation.

The Conway staging will be the show's seventh in Arkansas since 2006, and with each production the show has evolved. 

This weekend's Conway performance will be followed by a performance in Hot Springs and "then we hope to take it nationwide," said Davis and Steward, who explain the show is produced by The Underground Railroad Neighborhood project, a nonprofit organization founded by Davis that works to promote art and performance through educational workshops for children and adults.

March 15, 2009

"There are a lot of messages in there and I hope the audience gets them, and also I hope that they will be able to have those conversations that have been pretty difficult to have concerning some of the issues that plagues our society now. It is also very, very entertaining and I hope they will be entertained," Davis says.

#The historic Alamo Theatre (333 North Farish St.) presents "Freedom Play" Nov. 14. Tickets are $15 for students with ID and $20 for the general public. A wine and art reception will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the play at 7 p.m. During intermission, Blues singer Gwen White will perform her hit "The Repo Woman." After the play, a panel will discuss social-justice issues. Visit http://www.turnproject.org for more information

April 22, 2008

Play tackles modern-day issues

JERRICA RYAN
Log Cabin Staff Writer

Published Thursday, August 14, 2008

Davis wrote the play in 2004, which has since opened in theaters around the state.

"Our first major production was at the Robinson (Center Music Hall in Little Rock) in 2006," she said, also listing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Philander Smith College and El Dorado's Municipal Auditorium as performance locations.

She said the original cast came together through poetry slams at the Medium Art Gallery in Little Rock, which has since closed down.

"I was on the local poetry scene because I'm a poet as well, and some of the characters are actually based on poets that I knew there. I just wanted to do something to actually bring the spoken word and art to a local audience," she said.