PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The latest play at People’s Light Theatre in Malvern, called “the ripple, the wave that carried me home,” highlights a story of history, activism and family.
It tells the fictional story of two parents who fought to desegregate swimming pools in the ’60s and ’70s, and how their activism has affected their daughter today.
Nathan Ramsey plays Edwin, a character revealed through memories when his daughter, Janice, is invited to speak at a ceremony honoring her father’s activism.
“She invites the audience in to experience what she’s experiencing, this phone call that literally causes this ripple and this wave, and she’s like … I haven’t thought about this stuff in so long. And now she’s kind of being confronted with it because of this opportunity to go and speak at this event. It’s really fascinating,” he explained.
Ramsey said most often when you think about people on the frontlines of a cause or movement, you forget the impact their activism has on their own families. “Even in the sense of like, Man, am I making it unsafe for my family to just exist because of the work that I’m doing? And so, this play explores all of that.”
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He said the play also speaks to the history of the Black experience in America.
“It is for all ages and races and colors and creeds and nationalities,” he added. “We kind of get to see this couple navigate what it means to be Black in America dealing with segregation and racism and different things like that. And how the two of them choose to deal with it and different situations that go beyond the walls of these pool clubs.”
“The ripple, the wave that carried me home” is on stage at People’s Light through March 24.