Alternate ROOTS

Progress Theatre will premiere a section of its new work, The Burnin', an a cappella musical inspired by two nightclub tragedies; one in 1940 in Mississippi, one in Illinois in 2003. Straddling time and space, The Burnin’ offers an imaginative exploration drawing on the tragedies as a narrative inroad to exploring central themes of identity. The piece follows a group of club-goers through the before and after of the fires to examine the sociopolitical complexities of race, gender, class, community, legacy and freedom during times of survival.