Between July 20 and August 16 2020, Transport Group proudly presented a streamed archival performance of our world-premiere musical from Fall 2019, BROADBEND, ARKANSAS, available from the comfort of your couch, free of charge and in support of the  Black Theatre Network. 

Starring Justin Cunningham and Danyel Fulton with a libretto by Ellen Fitzhugh and Harrison David Rivers and music and additional lyrics by Ted Shen, a Black family grapples with decades of inequality, violence, and suppression in the South. Benny, an orderly at a nursing home, delicately balances his role as a caregiver to an ornery white resident who shares a contentious past with his white boss while at the same time caring for his own family as the fight for equality grips the nation in the midst of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Thirty years later, his daughter, Ruby, struggles to understand an incident of police brutality against her 15-year-old son. This unique musical, spanning nearly half a century and three generations, asks us to contemplate the cycle of violence in this country and how we will find hope and create change against the backdrop of hate that plagues America.

 The month-long stream not only financially supported over 30 artists of the original production, the viewership reached 45 states, 21 countries, and nearly 3,000 viewers.  We also offered a Virtual Conversation series with an eye toward meeting the current moment of the nation’s racial justice reckoning, featuring the cast and creative team of Broadbend, Arkansas, progressive theatres in Minneapolis (New Dawn Theatre, Pillsbury House, Theatre Latte Da), and Black arts activists (Jonathan McRory, Chris Berry, Monique Martin, and Kevin Powell).