Juneteenth In San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A collaboration of 28 Bay Area theater companies will hold a live reading of the new Vincent Terrell Durham play "Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids" via Zoom for Juneteenth at 7 p.m. Friday.

"This collaboration is part of a national event organized by the Juneteenth Theatre Project," organizers said in an announcement. "Groups of regional theatres around the country will be simultaneously mounting their own Zoom performances of this powerful play, which speaks to the need for speaking the truth and dismantling systemic racism in our institutions."

Juneteenth celebrates the message delivered to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1865, that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the emancipation proclamation.

That message arrived two and one-half years late and the Civil War had ended more than two months before the proclamation was delivered.

Admission is free but advance reservations are required. A Zoom link will be sent to registered ticket holders the day of the event.

Participating stage groups are the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, PlayGround, Planet Earth Arts, African-American Shakespeare Company, American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cal Shakes, Center Rep, Central Works, City Lights, Crowded Fire, Custom Made Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pear Theatre, Perspective Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, San Jose Stage, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Santa Cruz County Actor's Theatre, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Shotgun Players, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, TheatreFIRST, and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

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