Magnolia, atlanta and dr. Martin luther king jr. a ... - Goodman Theatre

OPPOSITE: Photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the
Vine City neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, while residents
protested their living conditions. Courtesy of the
Atlanta History Center, Bill Wilson Collection. RIGHT:
Photo of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia,
courtesy of photographer Stu Jenks. Photo of Peachtree
Street and Auburn Avenue courtesy of Geographic
Places, Lane Brothers Photographers Collection and
Tracy O’Neill Collection, Special Collections Department,
Georgia State University Library.
Set in Atlanta, Georgia, in early 1963,
Magnolia captures a place and time when
all assumptions were being reexamined
and the earth was shifting under people’s
feet. The impetus for the play came from
playwright Regina Taylor’s desire to honor
the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
She began her journey by studying the
people and history of King’s birthplace.
Born on January 15, 1929, King was the
eldest son of Alberta King (née Williams)
and the Reverend Mike King, who later
changed both his and his son’s name to
Martin Luther in honor of the 16th century
theologian. King’s maternal grandfather,
A.D. Williams, was a former slave
preacher who had worked his way up in
Atlanta’s black community to become the
preacher at Ebenezer Baptist Church. It
was this pulpit that King’s father would
assume in due time.
The Atlanta of King’s childhood suffered
from the same racist acrimony and violence
as the rest of the South, but what
set the city apart from its region was
its thriving black community. Auburn
Avenue, the street where King grew up
and Ebenezer Baptist Church stood, was
a lively strip of restaurants, offices, small
businesses and nightspots that came to
be known as Sweet Auburn.
In his historical narrative Where
Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn journalist
Gary M. Pomerantz charts the parallel
histories of two Atlantas—one black and
centered around Sweet Auburn, the other
white, wealthy and centered around
Peachtree Street. In a telling episode,
Pomerantz describes a drive he took with
Maynard Jackson—the former mayor of
Atlanta and the first black mayor of a
Magnolia Synopsis
Atlanta, 1963. Even as Martin Luther King Jr. inspires Atlanta’s black citizens to fight
passionately for their civil rights, the new mayor erects “Peyton Wall” to restrict where
they can live. Amid these churning social currents, the Magnolia Estate faces foreclosure,
pitting the sensual, free-spirited heiress Lily Forrest against Thomas, a strong-willed businessman
who lays claim to the estate where his ancestors were slaves. As we welcome
the first African American president into the White House, this poignant and timely world
premiere by Regina Taylor reminds us how much of Dr. King’s dream has been realized—
and how much is yet to be achieved. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, the Tony Awardwinning
director of August: Osage County.
major southern city—around Jackson’s
grandparents’ old neighborhood.
Jackson pointed to a street sign
and said, ‘What’s it say?’ ‘Glen Iris.’
Across the street, the street sign said
‘Randolph.’ You know why? Racial
living patterns. Whites didn’t want to
live on the same street as blacks. So
blacks lived on ‘Randolph Street’ and
whites lived on ‘Glen Iris.’
In 1895, Atlanta had played host to the
Cotton States and International Exposition
where Booker T. Washington delivered
a famous speech known as the “Atlanta
Compromise.” In this speech Washington
said, “In all things that are purely social,
we can be as separate as the fingers, yet
one as the hand in all things essential to
mutual progress.” This pragmatic, measured
approach to race relations became
central to Atlanta’s character and is
represented in Magnolia on both sides of
the racial divide. The character Thomas,
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