Gary’s West Side Theatre Guild opens its 21st season with a drama about two dynamic activists who targeted racial injustice during a tumultuous period of unrest in America.
Set for an Oct. 19-29 run at the West Side Leadership Academy, “The Meeting” depicts a fictional face-to-face session during which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X “debate their varying approaches to the same grave social problems,” according to promotional material from the theater troupe.
“I think it’s important because it explains the ideologies of both these incredible historical figures in their effort for equality,” Mark Spencer, the play’s director, said. “They meet behind closed doors and they challenge the other’s position in terms of how one would deal with equality. They have two very different approaches.
“We know, historically, Malcolm X was aggressive in terms of by any means necessary to protect and to achieve equality, while King was about the idea of nonviolence and being very disciplined in that realm.”
Portraying King in the West Side Theatre Guild’s production is Jonathan Floyd Moore.
“It’s just a humbling honor,” Moore, a 40-year-old Gary resident, said. “I really look up to him.”
Moore feels that part of his job is to perhaps “reveal a different layer” of King’s personality that audiences may not have seen.
“He was a fascinating man — a funny man; a lot of people may not know that,” Moore said.
As Moore works to give the civil rights icon some human dimensions, he likewise wants to assure that King’s enduring character is captured.
“It’s an overwhelming responsibility to make sure you do justice to his legacy,” said Moore, who is studying to be a Baptist minister.
Moore said portraying King in “The Meeting” is basically fulfilling “a childhood dream.”
Premiering 30 years ago, the play details a secret meeting in a New York City hotel that Malcolm X — born Malcolm Little — has requested with King.
“The fictitious storyline is that Malcolm wanted to speak to this great peacemaker, and to challenge him and discuss their differences and their similarities behind closed doors,” Spencer said.
The imagined meeting, according to Spencer, takes place around the time that Malcolm X was to appear at Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, where he was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965.
Expressing their divergent views, Malcolm and King vigorously debate how to improve the lives of black people in an American society that is still fraught with obstacles to racial parity.
Written by Jeff Stetson, the one-act production relays a tone of mutual respect that is shared by the anti-bigotry leaders who both will fall victims to assassins.
Hammond resident Ryan Robinson is entrusted with the role of Malcolm X in the West Side Guild’s presentation.
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“It’s a one-in-a-million chance,” Robinson, 24, said. “It’s such an incredible role. He revolutionized the Muslim community. He revolutionized the black community.”
Citing a challenging aspect of his role, Robinson said he actually gravitates more toward King’s philosophy for battling racial injustice.
Still, Robinson said he has an understanding for Malcolm X’s harder-edged slant.
“I accept what he was trying to do; I appreciate both styles,” said Robinson, who has substantial experience performing in stage presentations of the West Side Theatre Guild.
Robinson said King and Malcolm X each left a mark: “They both were impactful in separate ways.”
As an actor tackling a larger-than-life part, Robinson said he has to embody the firebrand spirit of Malcolm X, who espoused black nationalism.
“It has to become who you are,” Robinson said.
Running about an hour, “The Meeting” will be preceded by “Stand Up!” at each performance.
“It is a teen play,” said Spencer, artistic director of the West Side Theatre Guild.
The 35-minute “Stand Up!” features high school students from Gary’s West Side Leadership Academy.
The ensemble piece deals primarily with “young people talking about making positive choices, and dealing with issues that they’re faced with daily,” according to Spencer, a Gary resident.
Teen-oriented matters scheduled to be incorporated in “Stand Up!” include subjects such as drugs and Facebook.
Presentations of “The Meeting” and “Stand Up!” take place in a 120-seat venue at the West Side Leadership Academy. The performance area is informally known as the Gerry Street Theatre. Patrons are asked to enter through Door E.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
‘The Meeting’
Where: West Side Theatre at West Side Leadership Academy, 900 Gerry St., Gary
When: Oct. 19-29; 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays
Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 at the door
Information: 219-390-9784