Arts’ Watch: Why a play about Corbin?
Published 10:02 am Saturday, November 25, 2023
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By Bill McCann
Columnist
The Lexington Herald-Leader on Tuesday, Oct. 30, ran an opinion piece entitled, “In 1919, Corbin expelled its Black residents. Here’s why I wrote a play about it.” The article was written by Quinton Cockrell, Associate Professor of Theatre Performance at Troy University, Troy Al.
Cockrell is an equity actor, a playwright and a member of the Dramatists Guild. His play about the Corbin Expulsion, “Trains,” was recently given a staged reading at Barter Theatre, Abingdon, V. Not long after reading Mr. Cockrell’s article, I reached out to him with “Three Questions” about his play and why he wrote it. His unedited responses are below:
Arts’ Watch
Why do you write plays?
Quinton Cockrell
I was trained to be an actor. I started my professional career as an actor in 1987. At some point in the early 2000s, I found myself unsatisfied with the roles I was playing. I found that I was playing the same parts multiple times in different productions. I got the idea that I could create better roles for myself. I wrote a one-person play called “Shot House.” I was pleased with the outcome, so I continued to write for myself. At some point, I found myself writing plays that had no role for me in them. Around the same time, I received an artist’s fellowship grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts for playwriting. After that, I started thinking of myself as an actor/playwright. Since I have been teaching, the writing has increased while the acting has decreased. I am now a playwright/actor.
Arts’ Watch
The Corbin Expulsion involved 200 people; how do you bring an event that large to the small spaces of a theatre?
Quinton Cockrell
I focused on the aftermath of the expulsion rather than the event itself. My play takes place thirteen years after the event. I tell the story of a black father and son who were expelled and the son’s wife. They are living a desperate life in Knoxville, Tn., when the son of the father’s Corbin employer seeks them out to try to “make things right.” He offers them money and a business opportunity. The dilemma for the family is whether or not to forgive and accept the offer. Although it does not happen on stage, the night of the expulsion is discussed in brutal detail.
Arts’ Watch
What do you hope that your play might accomplish that a novel or an article on that same topic cannot?
Quinton Cockrell
The power of theatre lies in the fact that the audience sees living people in front of them, creating an “imitation of life.” Although the performance lasts only two hours, I hope the impact will linger significantly longer. Novels (which I love) can take days or even weeks to consume. Also, a play leaves less to the imagination than a novel. The audience is given visual and auditory depictions. The audience does not have to imagine what the environment and characters look and sound like. The initial effect is immediate. Articles are restricted to facts. I have been unable to find any first-hand accounts from anyone who was actually driven out of Corbin. Dramatization allows me to depict what the victims might have experienced and what they might have felt.
Bill McCann is the author of “God Hires Gardeners” which is available at Arts on Main and at online retailers as well. He can be reached at WHMwriter@gmail.com.