where: Edison Theatre
when: Feb. 27-March 1
price: $10 for students and seniors/$15 for adults

This weekend is your last chance to see the riveting and thought-provoking “Blues for Mr. Charlie,” the legendary James Baldwin second and often overlooked play, put on by our very own Performing Arts Department in Edison Theatre. This powerful production blends both student and professional actors, and deals with the challenging issues of racism, segregation and compassion that still echo in our society (and particularly our St. Louis community) today.

“Blues for Mr. Charlie” was published and first staged in 1964, at the height of the black civil rights movement. Baldwin loosely based the play on the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi and subsequent acquittal of his killers, one of the key motivating sparks behind the fire of the civil rights movement. In “Blues for Mr. Charlie,” fictional Richard Henry (played by Jonathan Williford) takes the place of Till. Refusing to submit to the condescension and orders of white grocery store owner Lyle Britten (Joshua Parrack), Henry is shot. When the sheriff decides to file charges against Britten, the white community of the town causes uproar, motivated by fear that their black neighbors are not quite so fearful or polite as they once used to be. However, we all know too well how this story (and the trial) will go. The tension in the play is not in the narrative, but in the real and raw emotions that the inevitable produces: the pain, the injustice.

By setting the events of the play in a generic southern town split into the very straightforwardly named “Blacktown” and “Whitetown,” Baldwin lets audiences know that the incidents he details are not isolated: racially motivated violence infects towns all across the country, and “Blues for Mr. Charlie” is merely a reflection of the way it can tear these small communities apart, no matter what they are or what they are named. The show may have passed its 50th anniversary, but it seems as if it’s speaking the same issues that still haunt us today.

Coincidentally, because the PAD schedule is filled out well in advance, “Blues for Mr. Charlie” was selected before the shooting of Michael Brown and the ensuing unrest in Ferguson last August. Despite this meeting of chance, there is much in “Blues for Mr. Charlie” that will speak to the questions and injustices that we are still dealing with in the aftermath of the events.

Yes, the production is long, running over three hours, but every scene is important, every moment a place for learning and understanding. Hopefully, “Blues for Mr. Charlie” will provide a path to re-open dialogue on campus about Michael Brown and Darren Wilson, or at least to get audiences to question if there really ever can be a “case closed.” You shouldn’t miss your opportunity to see it.

The production, directed by Ron Himes, opened last weekend at the Edison Theatre and will be performed three more times this coming weekend: Feb. 27 and 28 at 8 p.m. along with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on March 1. Call 314-935-6543 for more information and ticket sales, or visit the PAD box office in Mallinckrodt.