A Rockford entertainment venue will host a summer series to celebrate unique voices in storytelling.
The West Side Show Room will feature Rockford Reader’s Theatre. The reader’s group pays tribute to the lives and works of various African American icons by performing their works.
Dorothy Paige-Turner is the founder and director of the theater. She said similar reading performances have been done before but not at this venue.
“I think," she said, "it's going to probably pull in a totally different audience than before."
The group previously performed at Inscape Collective in Rockford.
The first two summer performances for “They Speak” will pay tribute to August Wilson.
“He only wrote 10 plays, and each one covers a different decade.” Paige-Turner said. “So, his plays actually were historical in the sense that it told what was actually happening in our country, in regard to African Americans.”
After these, a few more showings will take place this summer.
“In July, we're doing 'She Speaks,' Paige-Turner said, "then in August, we are going to center this around the Founders Day for the city of Rockford.”
This summer series will bring African American literature to life. It will honor figures like August Wilson, Maya Angelou, and one of Rockford’s founders, Lewis Lemon.
The first two shows take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 28 and at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. More showtimes can be found at the West Side Show Room website.