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THEATER 'Every 28 Hours' explores racial violence One-minute play festival in St. Louis launched by OSF's Claudia Alick Comment By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Claudia Alick remembers when she had her “Ferguson moment.” It was while watching the civil uproar after Michael Brown, a 19-year-old, unarmed black man, was shot dead Aug. 9, 2014, by a policeman in Ferguson, Mo., a city of 21,200 people on the northwest side of St. Louis. In that moment, Alick, a producer with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, joined scores of other dramatic artists around the country who connected on the Internet and decided to produce 90 one-minute plays to both capture a historic time in the civil rights movement and to help guide the nation on how to move forward from the Ferguson tragedy and the riots that followed. Alick, who is in St. Louis this week, put together a nationwide group of 45 playwrights, 30 theaters and 19 actor-directors to produce 90 tiny dramas in a project called "Every 28 Hours" (see www.thefergusonmoment.com ). It will be presented this weekend in Ferguson and St. Louis. She funded the project with $5,000 from Indiegogo. OSF is co-producing “Every 28 Hours” as part of its American Revolutions cycle. In a broad network inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement springing out of the death of Treyvon Martin in Florida and deaths at the hands of police in Ferguson and Baltimore, participants have taken up the cry of “Every 28 Hours.” That's how often a black person is killed by police, vigilantes or security guards, according to a study by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement of deaths in 2012. More than 1,000 artists are now collaborating to create “art in resonance with this moment in American history," Alick and Megan Sandberg-Zakian write in the "Ferguson Theater Syllabus." "The breadth and depth of artistic actions around the country is inspiring. From new play commissions to community conversations, from guerrilla street performances to casts of Off-Broadway plays standing in solidarity at curtain call, theater artists and institutions around the nation are stepping forward to join the new civil rights movement." The first phase of the project is community meetings, collaborative writing sessions and readings of plays in St. Louis today through Saturday, says an OSF statement. Readings will be produced at 2 p.m. Saturday in Ferguson and at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis. A video will be posted on the Internet. Co-creator of the project is Dominic D’Andrea, producing artistic director of the one-minute play festival. He notes, “It’s an exciting and necessary project to be doing at this place and time. The deep injustices that marginalized populations face in this country are staggering — and no place better represents this tension than Ferguson. As artists, we felt it was our responsibility to create an artistic space to respond to questions of race, injustice and civic responsibility on a local and national platform.” John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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