Even though he was afraid of heights, Lewis Hine once climbed to the top of the Empire State Building to photograph the workers while it was under construction.
His life and mission are the subject of “The Light,” an original play that will be presented live virtually at 7:30 p.m. March 16 for free.
Written by retired Kane County Judge Wiley Edmondson, the ethical leadership docudrama is part of the Elgin Area Leadership Academy program.
“The play tells the story of how a teacher who was given an inexpensive camera to record school events became the greatest professional photojournalist of the Progressive Era,” Edmondson said.
Born in 1874 in Wisconsin, Hine went on to study sociology and became a teacher in New York City.
“He took his camera to Ellis Island and created photographic portraits of immigrants,” Edmondson said. “He went to work as an undercover investigator for the National Child Labor Committee and risked his life to get past the guards in order to photograph 8-year-old coal miners.”
Hine’s art is really what tells his story.
“His photographs never portrayed his subjects as mere victims but instead brought out their dignity, courage and hope,” Edmondson said. “He spent the rest of his life taking photographs to display an appreciation for the challenges and work of ordinary people.”
“The Light” is one of more than a dozen plays Edmondson has written for the academy.
“The title of the play refers to Hine’s belief that a photograph can bring light to expose the inequities of industrial capitalism,” he said. “And that when they are thus exposed, the public will rise up and correct them.”
Edmondson thought it was high time for everyone to know Hine’s little-known story.
“I hope that the audience gains an understanding that in addition to making money and getting by, a person’s life can be about something, can have a theme, and that even seemingly ordinary people can thus make a difference,” Edmondson said.
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The play will be performed virtually by a cast of five actors across three time zones.
“As with previous leadership academy shows, the cast was not familiar with the story of Lewis Hine that Wiley had written for us and were eager to tell this story once we read the script,” said Director Jeff LaRocque, a theater professor at Elgin Community College. “Some of us were familiar with Lewis Hine’s photographs but did not know the story behind who took them.”
Now that story is coming to light.
“My favorite thing about working on the leadership academy shows is telling these hidden histories of important figures that Wiley always manages to find,” LaRocque said. “It is very gratifying for myself and the cast to tell this important story.”
While the virtual aspect of the show has its technical challenges, there are some upsides to the format.
“I think virtual theater is opening up opportunities to create theater in new and interesting ways,” LaRocque said. “On our virtual stage we are able to add effects and images that we might have had to cut if we were performing the play live and in-person.”
The academy’s productions usually are live and in-person with an audience of about 100, but the Zoom production hopefully will reach more people — the academy itself has more than 550 alumni.
“Because of COVID-19, we decided this year we would harness the power of digital media and make the production available to view virtually,” said Dan Fox, the academy’s co-founder and co-facilitator. “It seemed a shame that these masterfully written and performed programs were one-time-only events.”
Thanks to the virtual platform, “The Light” now can be recorded for future viewing.
Created in 1990, the Elgin Area Leadership Academy is an award-winning program sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce.
“The program features distinguished community leaders, content experts and successful executives in the Elgin area who share their ideas, perspectives and experiences,” Fox said. “It crafts and delivers a curriculum specifically designed to assist individuals in becoming active and inspiring contributors to the community.”
Ethical leadership is a crucial part of that curriculum.
“The docudrama presentations have been an effective tool we use to start the discussion,” Fox said. “Since the beginning, the docudrama has been a favorite session for the EALA class and alumni alike.”
‘The Light’
When: 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. March 16
Where: virtual performance at fb.me/e/2bn248l9X
Tickets: free
Information: 847-741-5660; elginchamber.com/leadership
Jen Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.