*Kacie Rogers and DeJuan Christopher, two powerful actors in the entertainment game today, are set to star in Angelica Chéri’s poignant love story, ‘Berta, Berta,’ opening at the Echo Theater Company in Atwater Village July 19 through August 25.
Andi Chapman directs the West Coast premiere of ‘Berta, Berta,’ described as a unique love story.
Set in 1920s Mississippi, Leroy (Christopher) has committed an unforgivable crime and is ready to accept his punishment: incarceration at notorious Parchman Farm. He has just one final wish before he’s caught – a chance to make amends with his long lost love, Berta (Rogers).
Their reunion swells from a quarrelsome conjuring of the past to an impassioned plot to escape their impending fate.
The play is inspired by the prison chain gang song “Berta, Berta.”
The song was incorporated by August Wilson in his play, The Piano Lesson. Chéri first came across it while watching a production, and found herself haunted by it.
“What’s so striking about ‘Berta, Berta’ is that people from all over have sung this for decades and have no idea who the man is who originated this song or who the woman is who is the subject of this song,” Chéri explained in an interview. “Every man who sang this song had his own Berta. He had the same longing, disenfranchisement, and captivity. Where did this song come from? I had to write an origin story.”
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