Synopsis: Two sisters uncover clues leading to the assassination
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Characters: (The contest only allows you to
have four)
Adina Shawnessy-FBI agent
Vera Shawnessy-Journalist
Hershey-Vera and Dina’s cousin.
Maranthol-Mysterious old friend of Vera and Dina’s father.
I wrote Down With The King the summer of 2001. It was my ninth entry into
the Scripps Howard Broadcasting contest. The local Scripps Howard station, WMAR Channel 2 and theatre company Arena Players
(The nation's longest, continuously running, African American community theater.)
The station handled the technical part, and the theatre company handled the theatrical
part. Arena Players auditioned and hired all the actors and directors, Channel 2 personnel, who would normally work on news
programs, handled the filming aspect. As usual (in the industry) the writer (me) had no hand in any of the creative
process. It was basically, "Thank you for your script, we'll see you when it's finished."
Down With The King won first place in 2002 making it my third first place
win. After viewing a news report on the inconsistencies in the murder investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther
King Jr., I thought what if someone found this one little thing and it snowballed into uncovering one of the greatest crimes
of the century. I also wanted the person/people who uncovered it to be investigators by nature and profession, a cop and a
reporter. I made the two sisters. Then I chose to make the “cop” a FBI agent and make it the same character from
my first winning play Without a Doubt. I wanted to make these two sisters argumentative, but also have an underlying
love for each other. I patterned this contentious relationship and named the characters after my aunt and mother “Adina”
and “Vera”.
The play had its “world premiere” party at Arena Players February 13,
2002 and aired on Channel 2 February 17, 2002. For the first time the premiere party had a “celebrity host” Judge
Hatchett whose eponymous television show was of course shown on Channel 2. (You can see an example of the invitation here.)
Even though all of my plays are special, this one had its distinction also.
It was not only my third first place win (something no other writer had done), it was the 20th and subsequently the final
winner of the Arena Players/Channel 2 competition for they chose to end the annual competition. Even though I “retired”
from the contest after “setting a record”, [they didn't announce the end of the contest until a year later] I
was sad to see the contest end. It was and could have been a great opportunity for aspiring writers.
