As the curtain falls on the 25th season of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, audiences have one last chance to see a Bard-inspired production — and it will take them to the childhood home of Miles Davis in East St. Louis.
Authored by former Belleville News-Democrat reporter DeAsia Paige, the play, “Power,” is loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” The play, which begins a three-night run on Thursday, follows Richard Williams, a fictional mayoral candidate who plots his rise to political domination.
Kathryn Bentley, the play’s director, said she worked with Paige over several months to incorporate stories about East St. Louis gathered from the city’s residents.
“The folks who are from East St. Louis, they are the experts in the room,” Bentley said. “They were very much like, ‘This is a story that needs to be told.’”
That story draws on the complicated legacy of East St. Louis. Its history includes luminaries of art and music, but also carries a stigma of political corruption and the tragic shadow of the 1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre.
“Even over 100 years later, the city is still recovering from that loss,” said actor and East St. Louis native Rob Wood, who plays Richard in “Power.”
Wood said that people generally have a positive reaction to learning that he is from East St. Louis.
“Just as much as there is a stigma, there's also flowers attached to the city,” he said. “I'm just happy and grateful that I’m one of the flowers.”
Related event:
What: Power: Shakespeare in the Streets
When: 8:15 p.m. Sept. 25-27
Where: House of Miles East St. Louis, 1701 Kansas Ave., East St. Louis 62205
To hear the full conversation “Power” with director Kathryn Bentley and actor Rob Wood, listen to “St. Louis on the Air” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The production intern is Darrious Varner. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
