Production at USC’s Law School will honor, show parallels of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — As we continue honoring Black History Month, a play happening Tuesday night at the University of South Carolina’s Law School will pay tribute to two social justice icons.
“Letters from Anne and Martin” is a production based on excerpts from “Anne Frank–The Diary of a Young Girl” and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail.”
The play will be put on by USC’s Anne Frank Center and aims to highlight both Frank and Dr. King’s experiences living through hatred and prejudice.
Two graduates of USC’s Theatre Department, Actor Carly Siegel and Actor Anthony Currie, will play Frank and Dr. King.
Artistic Director for the Anne Frank Center, Mario Haynes, says “Letters From Anne and Martin” shows how Frank and King Jr. were connected by their struggles.
“It’s looking at their writings. So you can see that Martin Luther King makes reference that if he were alive in Nazi Germany at the time that he would comfort his brothers and sisters that were Jewish. And Anne Frank, she speaks about how her persecution and hiding feels like the slave hunts of the olden days,” says Haynes.
On why the play will be in the Karen J. Williams Courtroom at USC’s Law School instead of the school’s Longstreet Theatre, Haynes says, “I think it’s important to remember that all of these anti-Jewish decrees and Jim Crow Laws — they were legal at a time. So unpacking how we can have more of a just system, I think that was a lot of the thinking of why to do this performance at the law school during Black History Month.”
Haynes says he hopes the play gets viewers talking about ways they can continue to fight racism and anti-Semitism and promote a kinder, more fair world.
“Hopefully, I hope that we live in a world where we don’t need to do as much work like this that is showcasing horrible things in society. But right now, I believe that it is important that we do that,” says Haynes.
“Letters from Anne and Martin” can be seen Tuesday night, February 7th at 7 p.m. The 40-minute performance is followed by a 20-minute audience discussion.
The event is free, and you can register using this link: https://www.eventbrite.
