LessonPLAN (Performing Live Arts Now), the Tower Theatre Foundation’s award-winning series bringing students and families to the theatre and using performing arts to enhance education, returns Friday, February 7 at 7pm for its third season with an adaptation of the award-winning Warriors Don’t Cry. The drama recounts a very personal story of 15 year-old Melba Pattillo, portrayed by actress by Jessica Maria Kight, enduring violence and discrimination as she and eight other African-American students, known as the “Little Rock Nine,” integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.

This one-woman performance, in Melba’s own words, is produced by The Bushnell Center in Harford, Connecticut. “When we started working on Warriors over three years ago, there was no way to predict its relevance to the current discussions about bullying, immigration and similar headlines,” said Scott Galbraith at The Bushnell. Equally important, it now demonstrates the progress made in race relations over the past five decades.

The LessonPLAN Series is sponsored by BendBroadband. Supporting sponsor is Warren John West with grants from Children’s Edu-Investors Fund, WESTAF, Bank of the Cascades and the WHH Foundation. The programs are hosted by NewsChannel 21’s Bob Shaw. Study guides and tickets to an educational matinee are available through info@towertheatre.org

541-317-0700 or TowerTheatre.org. NOTE: Recommended for ages 11-18. Contains historically accurate language, including the “N” word.

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