Inside Ashland

Chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and openly gay Civil Rights activist, Bayard Rustin was nearly written out of the history books. This world premiere play soars with African-American spirituals and offers a glimpse into a transformative moment for young Rustin—his 1944 prison sentence in Ashland, Kentucky. While incarcerated and targeted for his sexuality, Rustin puts his faith in nonviolent resistance to the test, illuminating what it means to be branded a "troublemaker" within a system stacked against you. People’s Light Associate Artistic Director Steve H. Broadnax III (Broadway’s Thoughts of a Colored Man) and Tony Award winner Jason Michael Webb (Choir Boy) bring you the latest work to emerge from our New Play Frontiers residency program.