"Back Home in Indiana"

    On October 25^th 2016, the “Top Readers” and “Book Club” programs sponsored by the John Marshall Community High School library media center were able to attend the performance at the Indiana Repertory Theatre due to the generosity of the Central Indianapolis Community Foundation Library Fund and the Alan Cohen Fund.

   A quick highlight of honorably mentioned Indiana-isms during the performance:
 

"Back Home in Indiana" stage at the Indiana Repertory Theatre

   Michael Jackson, Eugene V. Debs of Terre Haute who was jailed for 10 years for violation of the Sedition Act 1918 but also lead our trade unions and received nearly 1 million write-in votes for President, Ryan White who taught us about HIV/AIDS, James Dean the farm boy from Fairmount, Lewis “Lew” Wallace the author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ, Mishawaka and genocide of native Indian tribes, Diana of the Dunes, Gene Stratton Porter, Famous Hoosiers, Cole Porter, James Whitcomb . . .  

   Hoosier hospitality, devoted mothers, the history of the Ku Klux Klan, the underground railroad, the history of the republican and democrat party, five vice presidents (possibly six with Michael Pence), Hoosiers are slow to change and quick to apologize for everything . . .

   “Coloring Inside the Lines” when African American people lived on Indiana Avenue, Brightwood neighborhood with outdoor plumbing, Madam C. J. Walker

   William Leon Garrett… first black basketball player for Indiana University in 1947…

    Alice Gray… Diana of the Dunes

   Corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, persimmon, muskmelon

   Cardinal, tulip tree, limestone, maple syrup, Wolf Park

   Three young people played music and provided vocals: a fiddle player, a banjo/bass guitar/cello player, an acoustic guitarist.  The narrator doubled as lead vocals, and played some of the lead male characters.

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"Book club" and "Top Readers" write their reflections after the IRT performance "Back Home in Indiana."

 

 

When we returned to school, I had all the students quickly annotate on the dry erase board what they were taking away from the performance.  The next day in the hallway, I could see their little eyes dancing like Christmas reflecting on all they learned about their home state consolidated into a two-hour and 45 minute musical and acting performance.

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Grants written by: Christina Shepard

Entry written by: Christina Shepard