Alabama Story

As the Civil Rights movement is brewing in Montgomery, Alabama, a segregationist senator and the state librarian clash over the content of a children’s book about bunny rabbits. Meanwhile, a reunion of childhood friends – a Black man and a woman of white privilege – provides a private counterpoint to the public events swirling in the state capital. Political foes, childhood friends and one feisty children’s author inhabit a Deep South of the imagination that brims with humor, heartbreak and hope.
Inspired by true events, Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones is a drama about censorship, book banning and Civil Rights set within the framework of 1950s racial tensions, but look closer and you’ll see it’s really about the issues facing America today as book bans and book challenges overwhelm libraries and schools across the nation.

Ghostlight will present this immersive piece of theatre set amongst books that refuse to be banned at two local booksellers in Chicago that are ardent supporters of free speech: at After-Words Bookstore (23 E. Illinois St., Chicago) Sept. 27-29 and Oct. 4-6, 2024, and Haymarket Books at Haymarket House (800 W Buena Ave, Chicago) Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 18-20, 2024.

Alabama Story marks Ghostlight’s return to full productions after the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, our eighth season celebrates a symphony of creativity that resonates across cultures and time, reminding us that art is a universal language that binds us all.