‘The Face of Emmett Till,’ a drama about the brutal 1955 murder in Mississippi of a black, 14-year-old boy for talking to and whistling at a married white woman, is currently being staged by TeCo Theatrical Productions at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Oak Cliff. Till’s lynching produced an international outcry — especially when an all-white jury acquitted the two white men accused of killing Till. “If we in America have reached that point in our desperate culture when we must murder children, no matter for what reason or what color, we don’t deserve to survive, and probably won’t,” William Faulkner wrote of his fellow Mississippians.
The title of “The Face of Emmett Till” refers to his mother’s request that at his public funeral, the casket be left open with a glass lid so people could see how he’d been tortured and stomped before being shot. The stage drama was co-written by Emmett’s mother, the late Mamie Till-Mobley and David Barr III. Barr will appear at the TeCo performances Saturday at 3 pm and Sunday at 7:30 pm to answer questions and discuss the play.
‘The Face of Emmett Till’ is being presented by TeCo Theatricals at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Oak Cliff through Sunday.
