Pictured: Playwright Calvin A. Ramsey

Pegasus Theatre Chicago, in association with ShPIeL Performing Identity, has announced the Chicago premiere of THE GREEN BOOK by Calvin A. Ramsey, inspired by Victor Green’s historical “The Negro Motorist Green Book.”

Directed by Producing Artistic Director Ilesa Duncan, the production features Quenna Barrett, Demetra Drayton, Trigney Morgan, Terence Sims, Michael Stock, Henri Watkins, and Tina Marie Wright.

The production team includes Nick Schwartz (scenic design), Carley Walker (lighting design), Uriel Gomez (costume design), Devonte Washington (sound design), and Katy Vest (props design).

From the press release: “Written by the award-winning co-author of ‘Ruth and the Green Book,’ the play is an homage to the historical travel book, ‘The Green Book,’ a publication started and published by Victor Green from 1936 – 1967. The play centers on the Davis family, an African-American family who open their home to black travelers in the South during Jim Crow/segregation and the birth of Civil Rights activism. It is also an investigation of the impact of civil rights on contemporary American issues. THE GREEN BOOK takes place during a weekend when the Davises are celebrating the arrival of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois for a lecture. The appearance of a white visitor, who turns out to be a Jewish Holocaust survivor, sets off a chain of events that shows that racism and anti-Semitism cannot be ignored.”

THE GREEN BOOK runs March 1st – April 1st. For more information visit pegasustheatrechicago.org.