Tuesday, we’re profiling a one-woman play from Pygmalion Theatre Company. It’s about two people whose lives collided after the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march. Viola Liuzzo was a 39-year-old mother who stood with civil rights activists. Tommy Rowe was an FBI informant who was with Klan members when they overtook Liuzzo’s car and shot her. Playwright Catherine Filloux and actor Tracie Merrill join us to talk about Selma ’65 and the people Filloux calls “two lost souls of the South.”
Pygmalion Theatre Company's production of Selma '65 runs March 4 - March 19 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in downtown Salt Lake City. For tickets and information, call ArtTix at 801-355-ARTS or click here.
Guests:
- Playwright Catherine Filloux's work focuses on human rights and social justice. Her 20+ plays have been produced in New York and around the world. Selma '65 premiered at New York's La MaMa Theater in 2014. Filloux will be on-hand for a talk-back following the Saturday, March 12 performance.
- Tracie Merrill performs as Viola Liuzzo and Tommy Rowe in the one-woman play. Besides Pygmalion Theatre Company, Merrill has performed with Pioneer Theatre Company, Plan-B Theatre Company and Salt Lake Acting Company among others.
Historic resource:
- Gary May, The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo [Indiebound|Amazon]
- Mary Stanton, From Selma to Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo [Indiebound|Amazon]
