‘Freedom Rider,’ at UMKC, is about youth, courage and faith

Ricardo Khan is back in town.

And, as usual, he’s putting together a play that isn’t quite like anything we’ve seen.

Khan, a co-founder of the respected Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, N.J., is a visiting professor at UMKC, where since 2004 he has directed, commissioned and/or co-written a series of plays that approach history from unexpected angles.

A couple of them were derived directly from Kansas City’s past. “Quindaro,” written by Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, told the story of the pre-Civil War black community in what is now Kansas City, Kan. Khan directed the play at Union Station in 2008 with a cast that included UMKC theater students as well as veteran character actor Bill Cobbs.

In 2013, he staged “Kansas City Swing,” which he wrote with Trey Ellis. The play recalled the era of the Negro Leagues and the 1940s jazz scene.

This time Khan is directing “Freedom Rider,” a show he conceived and for which he commissioned four playwrights, including McGhee-Anderson and Kansas City Repertory Theatre resident playwright Nathan Louis Jackson. It depicts a group of idealistic young people, black and white, who in 1961 boarded buses to the Deep South to protest entrenched segregation.

The riders were met by crowds of angry whites who assaulted them with baseball bats. One bus was firebombed. Some of the freedom riders were arrested “for their own protection.” But they drew the country’s attention to what African-Americans in the South had to live with.

“I think the initial spark came from events that have happened in the world, like the Arab Spring and demonstrations that have happened in this country as well,” Khan said. “Things that have reminded me of how important young people are to change.

“Not a lot of people I come into contact with who are young realize their full potential. I wanted to tell a story that was a shining example of America at its best and that might empower people.”

The opportunity to work with young theater artists is one reason Khan likes to develop projects at UMKC.

“I want students to get the experience of working on a new play, to find out what it’s like to work on a new play, because when they get out in that (professional) world, my hope is that they get to create a role and I want them to be ready,” Khan said.

“When you’re doing a particular chapter in history or a particular political issue, to delve into that subject matter and understand the context in which the story is told, I think it really develops you as a human being.”

Khan conceived a play about four young freedom riders from different backgrounds: a white female college student from California, a black woman from a privileged background in Detroit, an African-American male from Howard University and a Jewish college student from Ohio.

“I had developed the storyline and the structure for the play, and I knew what I wanted to say and I knew it would be in four movements,” Khan said. “I thought: ‘What would it be like if I could find a writer suited to each of the four characters?’”

In addition to McGhee-Anderson and Jackson, Khan invited playwright/actress Nikkole Salter and writer Murray Horwitz (“Ain’t Misbehavin’”) to participate. McGhee-Anderson wrote about the young woman from Detroit. Salter created a piece on the woman from California. Jackson wrote about the Howard University student, and Horwitz created a character for the Jewish student.

“These writers are people I really admire and love as artists and as people,” Khan said. “After I worked with them individually for a number of months, I then took their scripts and walked them into a workshop with the students in Kansas City.

“After that process, which included a lot of discussion with the students, I went back and developed a draft and sent it out to everyone, and they then revised their work. Then we brought them back with the students … and from that point on the writers worked as a group. My job was to weave those four stories together.”

The show also incorporates gospel songs of the civil rights era to be performed by a community church choir organized by Mia Ramsey.

“The civil rights movement could not have happened without music,” he said.

Khan said he wants the audience to experience a glimpse of the past and come away with a better understanding and respect for young idealists who put themselves in harm’s way.

“My hope is that they will see something that happened in history (and) follow a number of individuals — young, brave people who got on a bus for a cause bigger than themselves,” he said. “History is part of it, but the humanity of it is what I hope is in the foreground.

“All of these characters come together in Washington, D.C., and then get on these buses and go to the South. Were they prepared? No. But they did have the belief and the faith.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 7:00 AM.