THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST Closes Baltimore Playwrights Festival, 8/10-9/2

The final entry in the Baltimore Playwrights Festival's Thirty-First Season, The Last Shall Be First, by Percy Thomas, opens on August 10th. Produced by Heralds of Hope Theater in Residence at Sojourner-Douglass College (www.heraldsofhopetheater.com), 410-997-5779, and directed by the playwright, performances of The Last shall be First will take place Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 3:00 p.m., at Sojourner Douglas College Theater, 200 N. Central Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202, through September 2nd.

Tickets are $10, and may be purchased at the door, or in advance by calling 410-997-5779. Convenient parking is located at the rear of the building on Asquith Street off of Orleans with easy access to the theater.

The Last Shall Be First tells of the excesses and cruelties of slavery as experienced by a fictionalized character named Monroe, a self-proclaimed preacher, who through a veil of prophecy, mysticism, truth and rebellion leads a small band of slaves to plan their escape from the Potter Plantation. Revealing the mindsets of both the master and the slave, The Last Shall Be First depicts the extraordinary lengths to which men of conviction, honor and faith will go to live free from bondage.

Percy W. Thomas, SC.D., began his acting career at the Arena Playhouse in Baltimore, Maryland, in Ed Bullin's “Clara's Ole Man.” He founded the Free Spirit Theater and the Percy Thomas Acting Studio, and is the Artistic Director for Heralds of Hope Theater. He has more than twenty years of experience in theater, commercial television and film, and has appeared in more than 40 staged productions. He has written several plays: Where the Side Walk Cracks (1975), Man on the Mountain (1978), Dreamer of Dreams (1980), Dividing Line (1983), SaggyPants (2010), and The Last Shall be First (2012). For more information visit www.heraldsofhopetheater.com.

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has presented 273 scripts by 165 playwrights, produced by 25 different companies, over the past 30 years. Our mission is to provide an environment that nurtures the talents of Maryland and DC playwrights through public readings, discussions, critiques and workshopping of their new plays. Our summer season is devoted to the presentation of these newly developed works in cooperation with local area theaters and production companies. Further information can be found at www.baltplayfest.org.