Eric Keitel, Tony Williams and Caleb Slavens in Two Pictures in One. Photo by John Thvedt

Jacquelin Schofield and A’lasia Simone in Two Pictures In One. Photo by John Thvedt

Unbound Productions Artistic Director Paul Millet, Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack, and Executive Director Jonathan Josephson have announced that their summer production of Two Pictures In One will receive an enhanced staged reading at the Sexson Auditorium at Pasadena City College on November 16 and 17 at 6:00 p.m. The play was originally included as a part of the company’s critically acclaimed production of History Lit: A Festival of Timeless Stories this past July at the Pasadena Museum of History. The enhanced staged reading is being included as part of Pasadena City College’s Pathways program which supports students in the timely completion of their academic goals through a comprehensive first year experience program. Pathways was been celebrating famed Pasadena-born author Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred for many months with student and community events; Two Pictures in One is being brought to PCC because of its thematic ties to that novel. 2,400 PCC students will experience the play, members of the community are also invited to attend (see link below).

Program Director Shelagh E. Rose saw the summer production of Two Pictures In One and it was her brainchild to bring the production to the PCC campus. Says Rose “As the keynote event for this year’s selection, Kindred, Two Pictures in One has been selected for its ability to illuminate the deep human impact of our history of chattel slavery.”

Published in 1979, Kindred employs time travel to transport a black female writer from 1976 Altadena to 1820s Maryland, where she encounters her ancestors, both slave and slave-owning. Two Pictures In One, adapted from the 1853 short story “The Two Altars, or Two Pictures in One” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, tells two stories of the loss of freedom – one through the eyes of a 1770s white family afflicted by the Revolutionary War, and the other through the experiences of a black family who is torn apart by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

The entire original cast from the summer production as well as the director has returned to remount the play. Says playwright/adaptor Paul Millet, “We originally produced this piece in 2012 but this past summer’s production was even more impactful and timely because of the state of race relations, and the discussion around race, in America.”

The cast includes Bradley Bundlie (Dick), Madeline Fair (Roxy), Eric Keitel (Charles/Phillip/Auctioneer #2), Jacquelin Schofield (Mae), Conner Scott (John), A’lasia Simone (Mary), Caleb Slavens (Frederick/Henry/Auctioneer #1) and Tony Williams (George). The production team includes Paul Millet (playwright/adaptor), Darin Anthony (Director), Christine Cover Ferro (Costume Designer), Noelle Hoffman (Sound Designer), Hilda Kane (Lighting Designer) and TaSahaunna Peterman (Stage Manager).

This will be an enhanced staged reading. The first half of the play will be performed with scripts in hand and there will be very few set elements involved with the presentation.

A limited number of community tickets are available for not PCC students: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/two-pictures-in-one-tickets-29069272978

About Unbound Productions

Founded in 2008 by Jonathan Josephson, Paul Millet and Jeff G. Rack, Unbound Productions is a nonprofit theatre company whose mission is to reimagine timeless stories for new audiences by creating immersive, theatrical adaptations of literature. Since our first full production of Wicked Lit in 2009, over 17,000 patrons have enjoyed our immersive theatre events at venues ranging from Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery, to Pasadena Museum of History, to Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood. Unbound has also presented staged readings at Long Beach Comic Con, Pasadena Art Walk, the West Hollywood Book Fair, NoHo Lit Crawl, The Chance Theatre, The Echo Theatre Company, and many other venues and events. Unbound has produced 26 world premiere plays throughout its history, some of which have gone on to be produced at venues across the country as well as Scotland, England and Cameroon. Learn more at unboundproductions.org.