The premiere theatrical reading of Jeff Ru snak&rsquo\;s fictional two-act play\, The Resurrection of Rubin Stacy\, w ill be presented on Sept. 10 at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.
\nAdmission is free and the stag e reading with actors begins at 7 p.m.\, with an artist discussion to foll ow. Funding is provided by an Artist Support Grant from the Broward Cultur al Division. Carey Brianna Hart will direct and Logan Green is cast to per form Rubin Stacy.
\nSeats can be reserved at: \;Eventbrite_The Resurrection of Rubin Stacy_Theatrical Reading
\nThe Resurrection of Rubin Stacy is based on the lynching of Rubin Stacy on July 19\, 1935\, near what is now Davie Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Rusnak&rsquo\;s play\, his first\, draws upon historically documented events of Broward County&rsquo\;s only known public lynching\, and the iconic photo of onlookers\, including a y oung white girl\, casually gathered in a wooded grove as the body hangs fr om a tree.
\nSet in 1948\, Resurrection centers around a recurring\, fictional dialogue between Rubin Stacy and Ruby\, a young woman who is re presented as the last face Rubin saw before he was killed\, when she was j ust 7 years old.
\nThe Resurrection of Rubin Stacy gives voice to th e victim of a racial terror killing while deconstructing the practice of w hite supremacy and vigilante violence that was common in the South in the Jim Crow era. The play goes further to show how a young woman breaks the c ycle of violence in her family and creates a pathway toward personal redem ption and restorative justice.
\nRusnak began writing this script in November 2020\, just months after George Floyd was murdered. He was inspi red by a detail in a Page 1 article in the Sun-Sentinel\, headlined\, &ldq uo\;A lynch mob killed a Black man in Fort Lauderdale in 1935. His name wa s Rubin Stacy.&rdquo\;
\n&ldquo\;Within the piece\, it was noted by Broward Schools educator Roberto Fernandez that Rubin Stacy had two young children at the time of his murder\,&rdquo\; Rusnak said. &ldquo\;This was the first mention in a published report that Rubin Stacy was a father\, r ather than a vagrant farm worker\, as he was portrayed by the Broward Sher iff&rsquo\;s Office and the press at the time of the lynching.
\n&ld quo\;I was influenced as well by a visit\, in 2018\, to the National Memor ial for Peace and Justice\, and The Legacy Museum\, located in Montgomery\ , Alabama\, where Rubin Stacy is commemorated by Bryan Stevenson&rsquo\;s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) as part of its Community Remembrance Projec t. Though this play focusses on a single crime\, it speaks more broadly to the thousands of Black Americans whose lynching is memorialized by EJI in Montgomery.&rdquo\;
\nJeff Rusnak is a Broward County-native who ha s worked across two distinct career paths\, first as a journalist and curr ently as a Grant Writer in the arts. He is a two-time Suncoast Emmy Award winner and four-time Telly Award recipient as Producer of the Hollywood Ar t and Culture Center&rsquo\;s Open Dialogues documentary film series.
\ nSee artscalendar.com//the-resurrection-of-rubin-sta cy for more information.
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