Unpacking Longview
Unpacking Longview Unpacking Longview is a performance about public school desegregation, family legacies, and East Texas identity. Written and performed by Elizabeth M. Melton, the performance dramatizes Elizabeth’s research into the long process of desegregating Longview Independent School District. Audiences join her as she unpacks and re-presents her hometown's history using oral histories, news clippings, family stories, and other treasures. Through oral histories, Elizabeth’s story as a hometown researcher, and the over-the-top wise fool, Texas Melt, the performance unpacks the fragmented history of race relations in East Texas. This event will be presented as a staged reading, which is a stripped-down performance style that focuses on the script, storytelling, and the performers' connection with the audience rather than elaborate sets or costumes. A staged reading is an opportunity to experience the heart of a play in an intimate, up-close way, and to engage directly...