A Classic Theatre: Tea with Zora and Marjorie

A Classic Theatre presents Barbara Speisman's play, "Tea with Zora and Marjorie," with four performances at the Gamache-Koger Theatre at Flagler College from February 18 through 21, 2016, along with a special performance at the Lincolnville Museum Cultural Centre on February 25, 2016.

The production is directed by A Classic Theatre Founder and President Jean Rahner, and features two seasoned local actors playing the parts of Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 18, 19, and 20, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 21, 2016. The special performance in Lincolnville will be on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.

Speisman's play imagines the first meeting between these two influential authors in 1942, when both of them were enjoying great success in the literary world. The fictional meeting takes place at Rawlings' upstairs apartment in the segregated Castle Warden hotel in St. Augustine. The meeting is imagined, but the friendship was real. And the "tea" is actually whiskey!
 
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, known for her classic tale for young adults, The Yearling, came to Florida from the North and fell in love with rural Florida. Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes were Watching God), was educated in New York, but was born in Alabama and raised in the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida. She came to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s before returning to Eatonville to collect stories and write about the region. Despite their different backgrounds, both women shared a love of adventure and were daring in their outlook, and both lived in St. Augustine. They became close friends.

Rhodie Jackson of Jacksonville and St. Augustine resident Nancy Grote are the talented local actors who will play Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings respectively.  Grote has played Rawlings in previous A Classic Theatre productions of "My Friend Zelma" and "Cross Roads." Jackson is making her acting debut at A Classic Theatre. She has acted and directed in other local theater organizations, including a part in "The Miss Firecracker Contest" at the Limelight Theatre and directing several shows at Orange Park Community Theatre.
 
Admission: Tickets for all the performances are $20 per person. Tickets are available online here. The February 25 special showing includes an option to take a tour of the Lincolnville Museum for an additional $5.00. For more information, call (904) 501-5093 or send an email here.

When? February 18, 19, and 20, at 7:30 p.m., and February 21, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. Special Lincolnville showing at 7:30 p.m. on February 25, 2016.

Where? The first four performances will be at the Gamache-Koger Theatre at Flagler College, which is located in the Ringhaver Student Center at 50 Sevilla St., St. Augustine FL 32084. The special showing on February 25 will be at the Lincolnville Museum Cultural Center, located at 102 M.L. King Ave., St. Augustine, FL 32084.