'WE'VE COME THIS FAR'
Troupe's production honors King's legacy, celebrates Obama inauguration
BY NAOMI R. PATTON • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • January 18, 2009
The Heritage Works Youth Troupe in Detroit is nearly 600 miles away from Washington, D.C., but distance isn't keeping its members and others from honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
The troupe's production "We've Come This Far," showcases a variety of groups and performances from the Heritage Works Troupe, the Means Dance Group, the College for Creative Studies Detroit Neighborhood Arts Workshop and Mosaic Youth Theatre singers.
The production opened Saturday at the Marlene Boll Theater of the Boll YMCA and features an African drum medley with female drummers and a short play called "The Most Important Gift of All," based on an African folktale about a little girl who takes a short journey to find the gift of love to give her new baby brother.
Today's show is at 5 p.m.
Taylor Redmond, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Detroit Edison Public School Academy, has three roles in the play as a storyteller, zebra and antelope.
It's about "a young girl trying to figure out what love is about ... discovering something she didn't know," Taylor said.
The show also features a poetry performance titled, "Dreams & Hopes -- Prose," which combines the words of King and Obama with those of people who influenced them.
The purpose of the production is for troupe members to "get intimate and learn their history ... be engaged," said Heritage Works and play director Rhonda Greene.
For the Dunklins, the event is a family affair.
Kira Dunklin, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Dove Academy, is performing in the play with sisters Kayla, 10, and Kiara, 6, who stars as the play's lead character, as well as their mother, Angela Dunklin.
Angela Dunklin, 34, said she likes to read African folktales, but especially enjoyed the African drumming.
"I feel like they're learning a lot," Angela Dunklin said about the experience for her daughters. "It's just a blessing for me to be a part of it."
Contact NAOMI R. PATTON at 313-223-4485 or npatton@freepress.com.
