Bowie puts Thurgood Marshall on Stage
Real-life judges and politicos are set to bring the life of Thurgood Marshall to the stage at Bowie State University’s Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. inside the Samuel Meyers Auditorium of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Communications Art Center.
Maryland Court of Appeals’ Chief Judge Robert Bell will portray Thurgood Marshall.
Marshall, who died in 1993, is an extraordinary figure in American history. The great grandson of a slave, Marshall was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Marshall cemented his mark in the civil rights struggle with his victory in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which ended the separate but equal doctrine.
The play is being presented in partnership with the Elder Theodore L. Barber Scholarship Foundation, Inc. in Laurel.
Before the curtain rises, the Oxon Hill High School Choir is slated to perform a mini-concert at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the scholarship foundation for Bowie State University students. Also, former Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend will offer remarks before the performance.
Written and directed by District of Columbia Administrative Law Judge Paul Handy, the play features Maryland Court of Appeals’ Chief Judge Robert Bell as Marshall.
Other cast members include:
• Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown as Spottswood Robinson, Marshall’s colleague.
• Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Sheila Tillerson-Adamswill as Buster, Marshall’s first wife.
• Prince George’s County Judges Thurman Rhodes and Larnzell Martinwill portray Robert Carter and Walter White, colleagues of Marshall.
• U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Gauvey of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland will portray the University of Maryland admissions officer who denies Marshall admission to its law school in 1930.
• Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Albert Northrop will play the voice of the Supreme Court and D.C. Administrative Law Judge Nicholas Cobbs will portray John Davis, Marshall’s opposing counsel who argued Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954.
Tickets are $20 for general admission; $10 for students with identification. Call 301-442-2166 for further information.
--PGS Staff
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