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AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT TO DEBUT "THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE" OPERA PERFORMANCE
Nationwide -- The Central Park Five by Anthony Davis explores the interrogation and coerced confessions of five teenagers wrongly convicted of a crime in New York City in the 1980's, along with the profound effect the unjust prison sentences had on their young lives. Composer Anthony Davis says: "I have devoted myself to the creation of works that bring to light issues of political and social significance - with a focus on the issues of race and justice." The opera, with a libretto by award winning playwright and screenwriter Richard Wesley is a passionate story about an issue that continues to create headlines.
The Central Park Five case as both a crime and a trial is one that remains talked about today even more than three decades after the initial events occurred. In 1990, The New York Times reported that the case was one of the most highly covered crimes of the 1980's. On April 20, 1989, Five African American and Latino teenagers were in the wrong place at the wrong time, resulting in their wrongful conviction of a violent crime that took place in Central Park.
The case transfixed a racially polarized New York City, and the teens were labeled a "wolf pack" by the news media. Op-ed pieces generalized the alleged spread of "wilding" among powerless men around the country, while ads and articles in the newspapers and tabloids exacerbated racial division and acrimony.
