East Lynne Theater Company presents a reading of the one-act play “Aftermath” by Mary P. Burrill for free, due to support from The New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s “Stages Festival.”
“Aftermath was first published in April 1919 in Max Eastman’s periodical, “Liberator” before it was produced by the Krigwa Players in The Little Theater Competition (performing alongside plays by Eugene O’Neill and Susan Glaspell) in 1928. It tells the story of a Black soldier, who was awarded the French War Cross for his bravery in WWI, only to return home to discover that his father has been lynched.
Mary P. Burrill was not only a playwright, educator, and activist, but was the first Black graduate of Emerson College. Her partner of twenty-five years, Lucy Diggs Slowe, was appointed the first Dean of Women at Howard University. The Slowe-Burrill house in Washington D.C. was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 for “its significance to African American and LGBT history.”
“Aftermath” premieres on Wednesday, April 6 at 8:00 PM on ELTC’s YouTube Channel https://www.tinyurl.com/ELTCYouTube and is available through Saturday, April 9 at midnight. It can be viewed directly on a flat screen TV, but if viewing it on a computer, ELTC recommends connecting the computer to the TV with an HDMI cable so it can be seen on a larger screen with better sound. Closed Caption is available on YouTube. The direct link to “Aftermath” will be available several days before the premiere after it’s been edited.