A World Premiere – The unbelievable, true story of Mississippi’s first Black Speaker of the House

In the searing aftermath of the Civil War, a man born into slavery challenges the broken promises of Reconstruction. John Lynch rose to become the first Black Speaker of Mississippi’s House of Representatives, a United States Congressman, and chair of the Republican National Convention. Commissioned by Alabama Shakespeare Festival for its New Southern Canon, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (All the Way, The Kentucky Cycle) introduces us to an inspiring writer, attorney, military officer, and politician who embodied the strength and the struggles of a rapidly changing America.