Chicago-based director Keira Fromm is no stranger to the work of playwright Joshua Harmon, author of Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions, and Prayer for the French Republic. Fromm is also a no stranger to premiering memorable work, having directed everything from Tanya Barfields’ lesbian romance Bright Half Life for About Face Theatre and David Auburn’s The Columnist at American Blues Theater to Halley Feiffer’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City for Route 66 Theatre Company, all in their Chicago premieres, not to mention the U.S. premiere of British playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s harrowing hang for Chicago’s Remy Bumppo Theatre Company.

‘Library Lion’ – Based on the book by Michelle Knudsen. Book and Lyrics by Eli Bejaoui. Music by Yoni Rechter and Roy Friedman. Song Composition by Yoni Rechter. Directed by Ran Bechor. Stage Management from Kendyl Trott. Puppet Design and Build by Jim Henson Creature Shop. Puppet and Movement Direction by Kate Brehm. Scenic Design by Cameron Anderson. Lighting Design by Daniel H. Jentzen. Adam Theater’s ‘Library Lion’ runs from January 10th to January 25th at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116. 

By Charlotte Snow 

If you ask any working theatre professional, “When did you first fall in love with theatre?” Many will answer “as a child,” having either seen or been in a Theatre for Young Audiences play. TYA may, in fact, be the invisible backbone responsible for (and continues to) uplift theater culture. At its worst, theatre for young audiences panders to kids and is insufferable to adults. At its best, it strengthens the bond between kids and adults while delivering a positive message along with a spoonful of whimsy. I’m happy to report that Adam Theater’s Library Lion falls into the latter category. 

Najee A. Brown’s Stokely & Martin imagines a pivotal dinner conversation between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) — Stokely Carmichael, Cleveland “Cleve” Sellers, and Willie Ricks — in 1966, at a moment when the civil rights movement was fracturing over questions of tactics, philosophy, and the meaning of Black Power.

Brown, the Artistic Director of the Multicultural Arts Center, wrote and now directs the production. The script comes with an imprimatur of authenticity: The dinner table conversation (a “strategy room” session, Brown explained during our interview) is informed by interviews Brown did with Willie Ricks, who attended just such gatherings. “They knew strategically what they had to do,” Brown notes, “and they did more planning than they did marching. Now I feel like we do more marching and maybe some planning that I don’t know about, or no planning at all.”