Benevolence

Synopsis

BENEVOLENCE explores the impact of the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Chicago youth Emmett Till on two families in the Mississippi Delta, one white (the family of his killers), one black (their neighbors). When the daily routine of a country storekeeper is disrupted by a group of buoyant teens, one of whom whistles at her, from that chance encounter, she is swept into a whirlwind of violence, prosecution, deceit and delusion that pursue her till the end of her days. In a nearby town, an auto mechanic and his wife struggle to hold their family together after his infidelity, but when he witnesses evidence of Till’s murder, the incident tears at the very fabric of their lives. Based on actual events, the third play in Bayeza’s THE TILL TRILOGY grapples with the enduring legacy of American racial violence through this intimate story of two women in quest of love and redemption.