301-662-3722

The Ballad of Emmett Till

May 2026: 15, 16, 22, 23 at 8pm; 17 and 24 at 2pm
What's What
Directors will observe inclusive casting. Save the Dates! Auditions will be held at The Performing Arts Factory on March 23 and 24, 2026 at 7pm (and March 22nd by appointment only). Please prepare two contrasting monologues. Callbacks will have a chance to cold read from the script.

Here are some links for educational purposes as you prepare for auditions:

Who's Who

Director: Ray Hatch

 

EMMETT “BO” TILL —  a boisterous, happy-go-lucky 14-year-old from Chicago, Illinois; an angel.

MAMIE TILL-BRADLEY — 33, Emmett’s mother, who lives and works in Chicago.

MAMOO — Emmett’s fair-skinned grandmother, Mamie’s mother.

WHEELER PARKER — 16, Emmett’s cousin and best friend from Argo, Illinois.

MOSE WRIGHT — Emmett’s great uncle, 64, Mississippi sharecropper.

CURTIS JONES — 14, Emmett’s second cousin from Argo.

HELUISE WOODS — 15, Emmett’s friend from Argo.

SIMEON “SIMMY” WRIGHT — 12, Mose’s youngest and favorite son.

MAURICE WRIGHT — 16, Mose’s middle son.

LIZABETH “AUNTY LIZ” WRIGHT — Mose’s wife, Mamoo’s sister.

RUTHIE MAY CRAWFORD — 16, a neighbor of the Wrights.

JOHNNY B. WASHINGTON — an unemployed farm laborer.

CAROLINE BRYANT — 21, a storekeeper and wife, former beauty queen.

ROY BRYANT — 24, Caroline’s husband, a storekeeper and truck driver.

J.W. “BIG” MILAM — 36, Roy’s half-brother, storekeeper.

H.L. LOGGINS — field hand and mechanic, one of “Milam’s boys.”

 

While the actor who plays Emmett has a singular role, the other five actors in the ensemble will play varied roles evoking his memories:

WOMAN 1 plays Miss Mamie, Simmy, Caroline
WOMAN 2 plays Mamoo, Heluise, Aunty Liz
MAN 1 plays Uncle Mose, Johnny B., H.L. Loggins
MAN 2 plays Wheeler, Bo 2, Roy Bryant
MAN 3 plays Curtis, Bo 3, Maurice, Ruthie May, J.W.

The ensemble also creates various group tableaus: people on the train, dancers in the juke, random folk in Chicago and Mississippi.

With music and magic, Ifa Bayeza’s Edgar Award-winning drama recounts the last two weeks of Emmett Till’s life on his journey from Chicago to Money, Mississippi in 1955. We meet a young man with boisterous energy and boundless charm whose fateful encounter with Caroline Bryant changes his life and our country forever.

The Ballad of Emmett Till is an ensemble play exploring the final days in the life of Emmett Till, a Chicago teenager who takes a fateful trip to Mississippi in the summer of 1955. Till’s murder and his mother’s subsequent decision to have an open-casket funeral are believed by many to mark the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement. The Ballad is a contemporary telling of Emmett’s story, a jazz integration of past and present, the events as seen from the perspective of the youth, himself. It is the story of a quest, Emmett’s pursuit of happiness, of liberty, and ultimately of life.

Some of the themes in this play may be troubling for younger audiences so viewer discretion is advised.
Support OVT Other Voices is a non-profit 501(C)3 organization. Like all non profits, there are never enough funds to handle everything and a new expense is always around the corner. We rely heavily on the support and generosity of local businesses and individuals to help make our projects a success.