Who Will Sing For Lena

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day The Haymarket Theatre will present Who Will Sing For Lena? Directed by Dr. Kwakiutl L. Dreher.

Who will Sing for Lena? is a one-woman play that dramatizes the life of Lena Baker, a black domestic and cotton laborer in Cuthbert, Georgia who was the only woman in the state of Georgia to be electrocuted. Playwright Janice L. Liddell gives voice to Baker, who, in 1944, killed her long-time white lover/employer in self-defense after he had imprisoned her in his mill for an entire day. Liddell uses actual trial transcripts to create this poignant drama, and carefully lays out the motivations for Baker’s actions. Alone on the stage, Baker summons the courage to remember the story of her abuse, the killing, her trial, and ultimate execution. The subject matter of this important work is timely. We may have come a long way since the 1940s; however, it is important to remember we still have a long way to go in this 21^st century. That is why it is so important that we bear witness to the story of Lena Baker.