Taking a Stand
Dervedia Thomas
Issue date: 2/8/10 Section: Entertainment
"Taking a Stand" the reenactment of the Orangeburg Massacre, opened to a full house and continued to have strong showings at the 3000 capacity Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium.
SC State heroes like John Stroman and Cleveland Sellers were among those in attendance along with Fred Moore, who was the Student Government Association President of SC State College in 1955 and was expelled along with several other student leaders for their pioneering protests against injustices in Orangeburg. His bravery was honored in the opening scene of the play with a powerful performance by mathematics major Austin Floyd.
The three and a half hour play, humanized and displayed the personal stories of the not only the three students killed, but also one of the police officers that shot them. Moses O. Bell played a level headed but focused Stroman, Elijah T Corley an aggressive James Davis and Charlie Jones III played a compelling Henry Smith.
Samuel Hammond's spiritual personality was introduced convincingly to audiences who did not know him personally by Lawrence Nelson and a passionate, eager Delano Middleton was brought to life by his great-nephew Student Government Association President Zachary Middleton. Like his great nephew, Delano was also a footballer eager to make a change. Few in the audience knew that in one of the scenes Middleton [Zachary] actually wore one of his deceased uncle's actual jumpsuits.
The female actresses elevated the play to another level adding emotion through their personal interactions as mothers, girlfriends and participants in the protests.
On opening night, students had positive things to say about the endeavor. "It was really enlightening," said social work major Sierra Tintrell. "I watched the Scarred Justice documentation, but this was better than that."
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