MLK Celebration: Performance of "Closure"

January 24th - 4:00pm to 6:00pm

The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University is turning to theater arts and dialogue to help build awareness of the impact of the foreclosure crisis. The foreclosure crisis has been -- and continues to be -- devastating for many families and communities.

The MSASS-hosted production of CLOSURE will take place on Thursday, January 24, 2013, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Strosacker Auditorium on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. The performance and discussion is partially funded through a grant from the CWRU Martin Luther King (MLK) Celebration Fund.

The play's author, Mary Weems, PhD, is a published local writer from Cleveland Heights and an assistant professor of English at John Carroll University in Cleveland. She describes CLOSURE this way:

"CLOSURE is a mono-poetic, multi-media exploration of the foreclosure crisis. It tells the story of this continuing economic tragedy, through the eyes of the objects left behind. Objects tell the stories of the people who own them. In this work the objects are witnesses to what happens when financial vultures prey on unsuspecting homeowners. It conveys a universal message of loss, despair and ultimately a hope for better times, while touching upon various social aspects of the human condition including poverty, domestic violence, and child abuse."

The event is co-sponsored by the Case Western Reserve University English Department and The Black Poetic.

Following the performance, the actors and audience will hold a discussion facilitated by Richey Piiparinen, research assistant from the Mandel School's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.