Alabama

Mark Woods: At Theatre Jacksonville, timely retelling of a story about 1959 book battle

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2 years ago

March 13, 2024

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Mark Woods: At Theatre Jacksonville, timely retelling of a story about 1959 book battle

“This is a story about two rabbits.”

So begins “Alabama Story,” a play being performed this month at Theatre Jacksonville in San Marco.

In the opening scene, the characters tell you that this is a story about much more than two rabbits, one black and one white, in a 1958 children’s book, “The Rabbits’ Wedding.”

It’s a story about how that book ended up in the middle of 1950s culture wars; with some in Alabama saying it was indoctrinating children by pushing a pro-integration agenda; with a state senator calling for the book to be banned and burned, and the state’s head librarian to be removed from her position; and with that librarian standing up for more than this one book.

“This is about books,” she says, “many books.”

The script has the characters tell audiences that what they’re about to hear is a children’s story, a love story, an Alabama story, a story within a story, and — somewhere between the lines — a true story.

What it doesn’t say — what it doesn’t have to say — is that it’s not just a story about the 1950s, Alabama and two rabbits.

‘We have to do this play’

Sarah Boone, executive director of Theatre Jacksonville, grew up with “The Rabbits’ Wedding” in her house.

The illustrator, Garth Williams, was best known for his artwork for “Charlotte’s Web,” “Stuart Little” and “Little House on the Prairie.” For this book, he made one rabbit black and one white for a practical reason. He wanted kids to be able to tell the rabbits apart. So he made the male rabbit black and the female one white.

It wasn’t a statement about integration or interracial marriage — until some in Alabama, led by one prominent politician, made it one.

Not that Boone knew any of this when she was growing up. She hadn’t even thought about the book for decades, until she was in a New York drama bookstore, checking out some of the new plays, thinking about Theatre Jacksonville’s next season. “Alabama Story” was first produced nearly a decade ago, but wasn’t published and widely available until 2022.

“I read it and I just thought it was so timely,” Boone said.

She also thought something about the story sounded familiar. It wasn’t until she pulled up the cover of “The Rabbits’ Wedding” that she realized why. She remembered it from her childhood, simply as a sweet story about two rabbits who wanted to be together forever.

When she brought the “Alabama Story” script back to Florida, members of the Theatre Jacksonville repertory committee and board also read it.

“Everybody said, ‘We have to do this play,’” she said.

Every year, when the Theatre Jacksonville is putting together the next season, they include at least one show about an issue. The goal is to have theater do what maybe other venues, like social media, often fail to do: start a thoughtful conversation.

For Theatre Jacksonville’s 104th season, “Alabama Story” seemed remarkably fitting.

An ode to books and librarians

Boone ended up having a long conversation over coffee with Kenneth Jones, the playwright of “Alabama Story.”

When Jones explains the origin of his play, he points to reading the obituary pages of the New York Times one day in 2000, seeing a story about a librarian.

Emily W. Reed, who in 1959 enraged Alabama segregationists by allowing a book about a fuzzy white rabbit marrying a fuzzy black rabbit onto the shelves of the state’s central library, died on May 19 at a retirement community in Cockeysville, Md. She was 89.

The confrontation came as blacks were fighting to be allowed in public libraries throughout the South and a segregationist in Florida was demanding that ”The Three Little Pigs” be removed from library shelves because the pigs were depicted in different colors. … In Ms. Reed’s case, the book in question was ”The Rabbits’ Wedding.”

Reed grew up in Culver, Indiana, graduated from the University of Michigan and worked at numerous public and academic libraries (including Florida State) before becoming Alabama’s library director. In that role, she was responsible for the selection and purchases of library materials across the state. She not only refused to remove “The Rabbits’ Wedding” from her library — she put it on a reserve shelf — she later was attacked for including Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Stride Toward Freedom: A Montgomery Story” on a list of “notable books.”

When Jones read about this — and how Alabama State Sen. E.O. Eddins led the fight against the books and the librarian — it leaped out at him as a story ripe for the stage, with heroes and villains, tension and conflict, small moments and big ideas.

For “Alabama Story,” he added a fictional story, about two childhood friends — Lily, who is white, and Joshua, who is Black — who meet again as adults at the same time as the true story of “The Rabbits’ Wedding” is playing out in Montgomery.

While this blend of fiction and non-fiction certainly carries messages about race and censorship, it also is an ode to librarians and books.

At one point in “Alabama Story,” Emily Reed says: “A librarian must be a repository of all sides of the question. …. I believe that the free flow of information is the best means to solve the problems of the South, the nation, and the world.”

This isn’t just a line that Jones wrote for a character. In a 2022 interview, he explained that this was something Reed said. And it’s at the heart of what he wanted the play to say.

“The free exchange of books, ideas, information is a primary tenet of librarianship,” Jones told Alabama journalist Alec Harvey. “That exchange happens over and over in the play, between Lily and Josh and between Emily and the senator and others. The exchange of books and intellectual material changes people’s lives.”

The battle over “The Rabbits’ Wedding” made national, even international news. It led some in the Alabama capitol who had fought integration to tell the state senator to let it go, that what he was doing was backfiring, embarrassing the state.

While the days of a “whites only” park bench (part of the play’s set) may be gone, issues involving race and books are not. Florida has made plenty of national and international headlines in recent years, sometimes about books that have been pulled off bookshelves. One modern-day controversy involved a true tale of two animals in a zoo, penguins, both black and white, but also both male.

It’s telling that in 2024, “Alabama Story” is being produced all over the country — because obviously it’s about much more than the 1950s, Alabama and a book with two rabbits.

It’s not only about past, and all that led up to 1959, it’s about the future. And in the end, Theatre Jacksonville’s Sarah Boone says, it ties all the stories together and tells one more.

“Ultimately,” she said, “it’s very much a story of hope.”

mwoods@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4212

“ALABAMA STORY”

What: “Alabama Story,” by Kenneth Jones, a drama based on true events, directed by Amy Love

Where: Theatre Jacksonville in San Marco

When: March 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 (Sunday performances are 2 p.m. matinees, all other performances are at 7:30 p.m.)

The cast: Gloria Ware, Jacob Dinkel, Samantha Lewis, Jonathan Lispcome, Josh Rutgers, Neal Thorburn.

For more information: www.theatrejax.com or (904) 396-4425

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Alabama

South Alabama basketball outlasts New Mexico State 77-75, improves to 8-1

Published

11 hours ago

December 3, 2025

Press Room

South Alabama basketball outlasts New Mexico State 77-75, improves to 8-1

South Alabama scored the final seven points in a 77-75 victory over New Mexico State on Tuesday night in Katy, Texas.

The Jaguars (8-1) scored all seven of those points at the free-throw line — four from Adam Olsen, two from Chaze Harris and one from Randy Brady — in the final 2:02 of clock time. Elijah Elliott missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Aggies (6-1) suffered their first loss of the year.

Olsen scored 21 points to lead the way for South Alabama, which is off to its best 9-game start in program history. Peyton Law added 18 points and three blocks, while Harris had 17 points — going 11-for-11 from the line.

South Alabama made 32 of 39 free throws in the game, with Law and Olsen each going 6-for-7 and Brady — who had eight points and a team-best seven rebounds — going 5-for-7.

Jaylen Randall scored 21 points for New Mexico State, while Elliott had 18 — all on 3-pointers. Jamel Jones added 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

South Alabama stays on the road Friday, traveling to East Tennessee State for a 6 p.m. Central game that will stream live via ESPN+.

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Alabama

Bonnaroo 2026 lineup includes Athens standouts Jessie Murph, Alabama Shakes

Published

23 hours ago

December 2, 2025

Press Room

Bonnaroo 2026 lineup includes Athens standouts Jessie Murph, Alabama Shakes

Two of Alabama’s greatest musical exports are set to perform at the 2026 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival: Rising young pop star Jessie Murph and legacy band Alabama Shakes, both from Athens.

Bonnaroo ’26 is scheduled for June 11-14 in Manchester, Tenn., about a 90-minute drive from Huntsville, Alabama. The festival’s headliners will include the deejays Skrillex and Griz, rock bands The Stokes, Turnstile and The Neighborhood, dance group Rufus Du Sol, country rapper Teddy Swims, singer/songwriters Noah Kahan and Role Model, and classic pop act Kesha.

Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. central Friday via bonnaroo.com. Prices start at $389 for four-day general admission and go up to $899 for VIP and $3,995 for “platinum.”

Four-day “Roo Insider” tickets — with perks like front-of-stage viewing, private golf cart transport, artist lounge access, air-conditioned tent accommodations plus all platinum, VIP and GA amenities — start at a princely $27,500.

Born in Huntsville and raised in Athens, Jessie Murph is known for songs like “Blue Stripes,” “Touch Me Like a Gangster” and “1965.” The 21-year-old singer mixes Lana Del Rey’s sultry charisma and cinematic sound, young Priscilla Presley’s look, and a country drawl filtered through Amy Winehouse’s rap-swagger.

Alabama Shakes were founded in Athens about five years after Murph was born. Led by dynamic 37-year-old singer Brittany Howard, the Shakes are known for 2010s rock-and-soul songs like “Hold On,” “Always Alright” and Grammy winner “Don’t Wanna Fight.”

This summer, Howard (who went solo in 2019) and Shakes bassist Zac Cockrell (who’d been part of Howard’s solo band) reconnected with Shakes guitarist Heath Fogg for a lucrative amphitheater tour.

But it’s been a “three-union,” not a true reunion. The Shakes’ original drummer Steve Johnson was left out of the tour, telling AL.com he’d been ousted from the band due to legal issues he had during the band’s hiatus. In late August, Alabama Shakes 2.0 released “Another Life,” the band’s first new song in eight years.

In addition to Murph and Alabama Shakes, notable Bonnaroo ’26 undercard acts include Rock’s Latest Great Hope, the British singer known as Yungblood. There’s also hot indie/punk groups like Geese, Wet Leg and Amy & The Sniffers and classic rockers Wolfmother, Modest Mouse and Blues Traveler.

Rap’s represented by stars like Vince Staples and Lil Jon, and electronic music by the likes of Major Lazer. Meanwhile, Tedeschi Trucks Band harkens back to Bonnaroo’s jam-band origins.

Weather truncated Bonnaroo’s 2025 edition. The festival was also canceled in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.

Creole slang for “the good stuff,” Bonnaroo debuted in 2002 and is held on a 700-acre farm. Attendance at the festival has ranged from around 70,000 for the 2012 debut to around 100,000 in 2012 and down to an estimated 45,000 or so in 2016. The last full Bonnaroo, held in 2024, drew around 70,000, according to the Nashville Tennessean.

Past headliners have included Beastie Boys, White Stripes, Jay-Z, Phish, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Dave Matthews Band, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West, The Police, Radiohead, Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Stevie Wonder and Metallica.

C3 Presents is the production company for Bonnaroo. Their other festival productions have included Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Atlanta’s Shaky Knees and New Orleans’ Voodoo Music + Arts Experience.

C3 also helmed South Star, a Huntsville festival, which debuted in 2024 with acts like Gwen Stefani, Tom Morello and TLC. South Star was cut short due to weather and didn’t return to Huntsville for 2025.

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Alabama

NFL Monday night: Former Alabama prep star becomes league career leader

Published

1 day ago

December 2, 2025

Press Room

NFL Monday night: Former Alabama prep star becomes league career leader

Marcus Jones returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown to send the New England Patriots on their way to a 33-15 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night.

With its 10^th consecutive victory, New England became the first NFL team to reach 11 wins in the 2025 season.

Jones’ touchdown return came off a 54-yard punt by New York’s Jamie Gillan and put the Patriots ahead 10-0 with 5:17 left in the first quarter as they raced to a 30-7 halftime lead.

The punt return was the 75^th of Jones’ career, qualifying the former Enterprise High School and Troy standout for the NFL’s career record book, and his 14.63-yards-per-return average went to No. 1 in league history.

Jones replaced George McAfee, who averaged 12.78 yards on 112 punt returns for the Chicago Bears from 1940 through 1950, with three years missed for military service in World War II.

Later in the game, Jones had punt returns of 17 and 13 yards, bringing his all-time best average to 14.64 yards.

Only twice in NFL history has a player from an Alabama high school or college had a longer punt-return touchdown than Jones did on Monday night.

On Nov. 24, 1968, San Diego Chargers cornerback Speedy Duncan from Druid High School in Tuscaloosa returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in a 37-15 loss to the New York Jets in an AFL game.

On Jan. 1, 2017, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill from West Alabama returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in a 37-27 victory over the Chargers.

The third punt-return touchdown of Jones’ career was his second of 2025. Jones returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown during a 42-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 28.

Jones’ Monday-night effort tied the franchise record for the longest punt-return touchdown, equaling Julian Edelman’s 94-yarder in a 38-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 2, 2011.

New England quarterback Drake Maye completed 24-of-31 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions on Monday night.

New England Patriots cornerback Carlton Davis breaks up a pass during an NFL game against the New York Giants on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In addition to Jones, who started at cornerback for the Patriots, seven other players from Alabama high schools and colleges got on the field during the New York-New England game:

Christian Barmore (Alabama) started at defensive tackle for the Patriots. Barmore made five tackles.
Carlton Davis (Auburn) started at cornerback for the Patriots. Davis made five tackles, recorded one tackle for loss and broke up two passes.
Patriots tight end CJ Dippre (Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive.
Cor’Dale Flott (Saraland) started at cornerback for the Giants. Flott made five tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.
Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville, Alabama) made two tackles on defense, recorded one tackle for loss and had one tackle on special teams.
Giants offensive linebacker Evan Neal (Alabama) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Giants defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (Central-Phenix City) made one tackle.
Patriots safety Dell Pettus (Sparkman, Troy) did not record any stats.
Darius Slayton (Auburn) started at wide receiver for the Giants. Slayton had two receptions for 41 yards and one touchdown. Slayton’s first touchdown of the 2025 season came on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Jaxson Dart as New York reduced New England’s lead to 17-7 with 12:46 left in the first half. Slayton also caught a 2-point conversion pass after New York’s second touchdown.
Patriots wide receiver Jeremiah Webb (South Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Giants quarterback Jameis Winston (Hueytown) dressed for the game but did not play. Winston had started the previous two games and thrown for 567 yards in a 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 16 and a 34-27 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions on Nov. 23. Winston returned to the sideline with the return of rookie QB Jaxson Dart from a concussion.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

New England (11-2) does not play against until Dec. 14 as the Patriots enter their bye week. New England will return against the Buffalo Bills at noon CST Dec. 14 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

New York (2-11) also is set for its open date in Week 14 of the NFL season. The Giants return against the Washington Commanders at noon Dec. 14 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.