New Jersey Stage published its 25,000th story in December 2021. As the site approached the milestone, we posed the question on social media as how we should celebrate. One response was to highlight our favorite stories from over the years. We liked this idea, but could not narrow things down to just 25 favorites so we will present a favorite each day from different genres. Every Tuesday we feature one of our favorite stories in theatre. This week's choice is a feature on "Too Heavy For My Pocket" - a play about the civil rights movement at George Street.
The feature was published on April 20, 2019 and is available here. Charles Paolino spoke with the playwright, Jiréh Breon Holder, and one of the stars of the production, Felicia Boswell, to learn more about the play and the inspirations behind it.
“Cultural mythology is stuck in time, depending on how near it is to us,” the playwright said in a call from California. “The civil rights movement has really been frozen in our collective memories, the time of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy, ‘I had a dream.’ Even my grandparents accept that at times.’’
“We hear about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and Ralph Abernathy,” said Felicia Boswell, the Emmy-winning actress who portrays Evelyn. “But it’s very important that we tap into the stories of people living in those times—how it affected them in their daily lives as they processed the natural things that happen with couples: fights, providing, miscarriages.”
