Just shy of 500 people attended the showings of The Fertile River in mid-September at First Congregational Church.

The Fertile River is the work of playwright Vincent Terrell Durham, who was born and raised in Binghamton and graduated from BHS.

The play’s cast included Foster Daniels as Uncle Jesse, Joyann Kershaw as River, Qiana Watson as Mama Cora, Samuel Fraser as the boy Arthur, and Terri-Jo Ramia as Miss Sarah.

Face It! Theatre put on the production of the play, which was offered freely and open to the public.

“We think of ourselves as a social justice theatre,” FaceIt! Theatre‘s founder, Jim Michalec, told BU’s The Pipedream. “We think of ourselves as a social justice theatre. We look for issues that are either relevant, hot on the surface right now, or we look for things that are in the past that this country or this society has dealt with one way or another but not fully explored enough of and has relevance to today.”

The goal? To help raise awareness and encourage dialogue — part of Face It! Theatre’s inspired mission — check it out.

Learn more about Binghamton native, comedian, and playwright Vincent Terrell Durham’s life and work at his web site.

What other kinds of mission-aligned gatherings and activities happen at F.C.C.? Here are some examples…