Station Hope Features a Poet Laureate, a Focus on Jesse Owens, a Local Jazz Club, and More

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) presents the 10th anniversary of Station Hope on Saturday, May 27, 2023, from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm on the grounds of Cleveland's first authenticated Underground Railroad site St. John's Episcopal Church at 2600 Church Avenue. Station Hope is a jubilant community event celebrating Cleveland's social justice heritage and exploring contemporary struggles for freedom and equity.

This year's event will feature pieces about legendary Cleveland Olympian Jesse Owens, a trip to historic Cleveland jazz club "Val's in the Alley" to hear a "casual conversation between novelist Zora Neale Hurston and columnist Winsor French." There will also be a piece about two unsung women of The Civil Rights Movement: Ella Baker and Claudette Colvin, a piece inspired by the late writer and Lorain native Toni Morrison, a piece about Harriet Tubman, and more.

Some of the artists who will be featured include Djapo Cultural Arts Institute, University/Cleveland Heights newly named first Poet Laureate Siaara Freeman, Mojuba Dance Collective, Reflections Dance Theater, Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers, African American Quilt & Doll Guild, playwright David Hansen and more.

While the event usually focuses on Northeast Ohio artists, this year's event will feature an excerpt from The Rescue of John Price by award-winning playwright Ifa Bayeza (The Ballad of Emmett Till), directed by local director Caroline Jackson Smith. The piece is part of The Oberlin Wellington Rescue Theater Project and deals with the 1858 rescue of John Price, a young man who escaped slavery and was later rescued from slave catchers by a large group of abolitionists. Ms. Bayeza is a noted national playwright, and younger sister of the late groundbreaking playwright Ntozake Shange (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf).

Guests will be able to engage with over 200 artists and 50+ community and professional arts & cultural organizations from across Northeast Ohio while exploring the breathtaking original architecture of St. John' s Episcopal Church. The event features theatre, music, storytelling, and dance inspired by the most important issues of our time. Station Hope is free, family-friendly, and open to all.

"As we approach this 10th anniversary, I feel immense gratitude to be a witness and accomplice, and I feel a hunger for more learning, more change, and yes, hope. I know I need it now more than ever. We all do." ―Raymond Bobgan, CPT executive artistic director

Cleveland Public Theatre's Station Hope 2023 is presented in partnership with The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, Councilman Kerry McCormack, and Ohio City Incorporated.