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ABOUT THE EVENT
The Schreiter Institute at Catholic Theological Union Presents: A Staged Reading of “St. Miles”; A New Play on Black Sainthood by Jarrett King. St. Miles is a fictional narrative that playwright Jarrett King summarizes in this way: “What are protests if not a form of prayer?
St. Miles is a fictional narrative that playwright Jarrett King summarizes in this way: “What are protests if not a form of prayer? Five years ago, the Ellis family lost one of its members, a young Black man named Miles, to an act of police violence. Now Miles’s mother Opal wants him to be recognized as a saint. As the Ellises navigate the arduous canonization process, the family clashes and battle lines are drawn. Is true salvation on the other side of it all? There are 10,000 saints in the Catholic Church—not one of them is African American. Yet.”
CTU will host a reading of the play, St. Miles, with professional actors. There will be one intermission. And there will be a Q&A discussion afterwards with the playwright. Refreshments will be provided.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jarrett King (he/him) has held a variety of administrative and educational positions with several Chicago organizations, including Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Silk Road Rising, Vagabond School of the Arts, Auditorium Theater, Hearts to Art, Unsilence, Bravo Performing Arts Academy, Chicago Public Schools, and American Theater Company, where he oversaw the in-school residency program American Mosaic. He is an Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Loyola University, teaching courses in Acting, Teaching Artistry, and Theatre Appreciation. Throughout 2020 and 2021 he directed Black Teen Lives Matter with Silk Road Rising, a four-part virtual showcase of plays written by Black teens. He is the Associate Artistic Director at Penfold Theatre Company in Austin, Texas, where his award-winning play A War of the Worlds premiered in summer 2022. He is part of the 2022-2023 cohort of the Goodman Playwrights Unit, and his play Box, based on the life of Henry Box Brown, will premiere in summer of 2023. Learn more at iamjarrettking.com.
