bourbon at the border

Last night saw Miami U's production of "Bourbon at the Border," a moving tragedy about a husband and wife who were civil rights organizers in college and were scarred by a series of horrific experiences in 1964 Mississippi. I hadn't been to an intimate performance in some time (the theatre department staged "Bourbon" on one of its experimental stages for an audience of about fifty) and wasn't prepared to be sucked into the drama--which tends to happen when one sits at arm's length from the performers. The action takes place in mid-1990s Detroit in the couple's apartment, where they try to make peace with their memories and figure out how to support each other in their desperate attempts to cope. I don't know anything about the playwrite--Pearl Cleage--but I'd like to learn more about her. Readers in the area should check out the show, which runs through this coming weekend in Oxford.