On May 22, join fellow Ohio University alumni for Ohio University's own Professor Charles Smith's play, The Gospel According to James. The Gospel According to James features two-time Tony nominated actor Andre DeShields and three out of the nine cast members are Ohio alumni.

There will be a post-reception including heavy hors d' oeuvres, cocktails, and Q&A session with Professor Smith himself, which is all included in the price of the ticket. RSVP now

About the play, The Gospel According to James
It's 1930 in Indiana and five young people are eager to break out of their small town. They need a car. They have a gun. But years later, contradictory memories are all that’s left of their grand plans. The Gospel According to James is based on the double lynching immortalized by the iconic Lawrence Beitler photograph. The play creates a fictional meeting between the man who survived the lynching and the only woman with them that night. As The Gospel According to James dramatizes the events leading up to the crime, it also explores how unreliable personal memory underlies what we believe to be an immutable public history. The Gospel According to James features two-time Tony nominated actor Andre DeShields (The Full Monty and Play On!).

About the writer, Ohio University Professor Charles Smith
Charles Smith is head of the Professional Playwriting Program at Ohio University and playwright in residence at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago . His plays have been produced off-Broadway and around the country by theaters such as Victory Gardens, The Acting Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, People's Light & Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, Penumbra, St. Louis Black Rep, New Federal Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Berkeley Repertory Theater. His work has also been produced for the HBO New Writers Project, the International Children's Theater Festival in Seattle , and the North Carolina Black Arts Festival. (For more information, please visit http://www.csplays.com/)

The nine-person cast of the Chicago premiere of The Gospel According to James includes three graduates of Ohio University. Those graduates are:

Kelsey Brennan (BFA honors tutorial ’07) Since graduation, Kelsey has performed on various stages such as Milwaukee Repertory Theatre were she was seen in Trouble in Mind, A Christmas Carol, and Cyrano de Bergerac; American Players Theatre where she was seen in Ah, Wilderness!, Henry IV, and The Belle's Stratagem; and Next Act Theatre where she was seen in The Value of Names. She has also performed at the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and was recently seen at Chicago's Remy Bumppo Theatre as Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest. Most recently, she played Mary in the Indiana Repertory Theater’s world premiere production of The Gospel According to James.

Christopher Jon Martin (MFA ’10) Since graduation, Chris was seen in the Athenaeum Theatre’s production of Inherit the Whole, a play written by OU graduate playwright Dana Formby. Chris can also be seen in the film thriller Cherry Crush. Most recently, he was seen in the role of Hoot Ball in the Indiana Repertory Theater’s world premiere production of The Gospel According to James.

Tyler Jacob Rollinson (BFA ’09) After graduation, Tyler spent the 2009-10 theater season at Actors Theatre of Louisville, as a part of their prestigious Acting Apprentice Company. While at Actors Theatre of Louisville, he performed on the main-stage in productions of A Christmas Carol, and the Humana Festival’s Ten Minute play, Let Bygones Be. Tyler, now a professional actor based in New York City, was most recently seen in the role of Abe in the Indiana Repertory Theater’s world premiere production of The Gospel According to James.

The cast of The Gospel According to James will be lead by Broadway legend André De Shields. In a career that has spanned four decades, De Shields is best known for his electrifying performance as The Wiz in the original Broadway production of The Wiz. He is also known for his Broadway performances in Ain’t Misbehavin’ for which he received a Drama Desk nomination, Play On! For which he received a Tony nomination, and The Full Monty, for which he received Tony, Drama Desk and Astaire Award nominations, in addition to both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards.