Appomattox October 31, 2012

April 1865. Ulysses S. Grant, general of the armies of the United States, meets Robert E. Lee, general of the confederate forces, at Appomattox Court House to sign the treaty that will end the bloodiest war in U.S. history. The days preceding the signing are depicted through the eyes of President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary, of Julia Grant and Mary Custis Lee and of others who were on the front lines of history. Will this be the healing act needed to bring a divided country back together? February 1965. St. James Baptist Church deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot by an Alabama state trooper during a peaceful protest for civil rights. The incident provides the spark for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s protest march from Selma to Montgomery and for Lyndon Johnson to galvanize his political influence to push the Voting Rights Act through Congress. Separated by 100 years and 600 miles, the play's events are linked by issues at the core of the American soul: freedom, rights, race and a stubborn belief in and hope for a brighter future.