Rise Up: The Struggle of the Freedom Riders - Our Review

The Coterie never shies away from tough topics addressing social justice and this fall's production is no exception. Rise Up: The Struggle of the Freedom Riders explores an often-overlooked, but important, part of American history.

The show is a play within a play, as modern students are putting on a performance as a class project telling the true story of the Freedom Riders who rode interstate buses across Alabama and Mississippi in 1961. The goal of the Freedom Riders was the peaceful protest of segregation, sadly the story is not peaceful.

Four actors are featured in this storie, Catera Combs, Khrystal L. Coppage, Jay Love, and Jordan Luty, each playing multiple roles throughout the show, crossing both racial and gender barriers. They portray modern school students, real Freedom Riders, famous politicians, police, and protesters  - showing the many vantage points and perspectives of the events surrounding the rides.

For those of us living in modern urban Kansas City, it is difficult to imagine a segregated world, but it wasn't that long ago... for students watching it can easily be remembered by their grandparents and great-grandparents... that Americans lived in a segregated society. Rise Up tells the story of that world and the fight to bring an end to segregation.

In 1946, the U.S. Supreme Court had outlawed segregation on buses, but many cities and towns, particularly in Alabama and Mississippi, continued to actively discriminate and deny equal treatment to people of color. 

The Freedom Riders set out on a mission to draw attention to the illegal discrimination and they rode together, male and female, and all races, on a bus ride through the South. Along the way, they encounter protests, violence, and even arrest. They risked their own safety to stand up for freedom.

We witness the courage, tenacity, and smarts of The Freedom Riders as they are challenged by small town law enforcement, the KKK, and protesters. We hear conversations with President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and White House staff as the president determines his responsibility to uphold the Supreme Court ruling and protect American citizens.

Watching it all unfold, students are challenged to consider: how much are you willing to risk to stand up for something you believe in? The play offers many perspectives and asks the questions we're all thinking: How would you feel if your child or loved one took this dangerous journey? How would you respond if your career were on the line? Your education? Your reputation? Would you stand up for your rights? For the rights of others?

Rise Up: The Struggle of the Freedom Riders is an incredibly thought-provoking and challenging production that inspires the audience to ask, "What would I stand up for?"