The Bench Speaks by Keith Caldwell; Presented by Black Light T&D
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time
- Fri, Mar 27, 2026 - Sun, Mar 29, 2026 7pm - 5:15pm
Location
The District Theatre
627 Massachusetts Avenue
Details
The Bench Speaks by Keith Caldwell
Presented by Black Light Training and Development
March 27, 28, 29
At its heart, the play explores how history lives not only in buildings and monuments, but in ordinary places. Set in the present day, the play centers on a 100-year-old wooden bench that has witnessed generations of life along Indiana Avenue. As a disengaged young artist, Young Dee, sits to rest, the Bench begins to speak—guiding him, and the audience, through encounters with legendary jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, community elders, activists, entrepreneurs, and displaced residents, the Avenue’s rise as a jazz mecca, its destruction through urban renewal, and its ongoing fight for remembrance are revealed. Jazz, protest chants, church hymns, and everyday sounds weave together to form a living soundscape of Black excellence, resilience, and loss.
