Powerful New Play at First New Christian Breaks Shackles and Mends Hearts

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 17, 2008 – (Los Angeles, CA) –  “Mama, mama, come and stop him!! Please come and stop him!!! We’ll be good mama.  He’s going to hurt our baby sister like he hurt us!”  As a young girl, thirty-something Avery Dixon cried out to her mother in anguish as she fought to protect her younger sister.  Fast forward two decades and Avery is still trying to protect her sister in the powerful new play “Shackles” that will make its world debut at First New Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by Dr. Norman, S. Johnson, Sr. located at 1555 W. 108th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90047, 323-756-2541.  The original stage play, presented by the church’s Liturgical Fine Arts Department, written by Damita Ford and directed by Alretha Thomas, will open Friday December 19, 2008 through Sunday, December 21, 2008. Performances are held on Friday and Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
   
Avery, played by Susan Bacon, is the oldest of four sisters portrayed by actresses Palanda Brownlow (Antoinette), Kelly Robertson (Angela) and KJLH Radio on-air personality Adai Lamar (Anita), who makes her acting debut in the play.  The sisters grew up with both parents in a middle class Christian home that seemed to epitomize goodness and morality.  However, the unspeakable events that took place behind closed doors belie the image the family worked so hard to project to the outside world.  Over the years Avery and Antoinette, the second oldest, have managed to keep these events secret in spite of the tow it has taken on their lives.  However, Antoinette makes an announcement that sends Avery into a tailspin wherein she reveals that she and Antoinette were molested by their now deceased father resulting in the subsequent destruction of the family.  Will the sisters be able to forgive their parents and one another?  Can they ever be a family again? Will they be able to celebrate the upcoming Christmas Holiday as a family?  These questions and more will be answered in “Shackles.”
   
“Damita has taken a bold step in writing “Shackles.”  It’s a powerful play that deals with a very sensitive issue – an issue that many families have dealt with and are dealing with.  It’s our hope that the play will shed light on this issue and perhaps be a catalyst for families who might be in denial to seek help in working through this problem,” stated Thomas.

“I’m nervous and excited about this piece,” said Ford, the writer of several other plays at First New Christian.  “I believe God gave me this piece for a reason and I’m really happy that I was able to write about this subject with sensitivity and balance and that Alretha has been able to stage the play keeping in mind our family oriented audiences,” Ford added.  Admission to “Shackles” is free.  However, donations are welcome.

First New Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church has been a cornerstone of the community for more than four decades providing a number of community-based programs through FNC CDC, it’s community outreach arm, that was established to meet the economic, educational, social, and health and human services needs of families in underserved areas, with emphasis on the Westmont-Athens area of South Central Los Angeles.