'Beauty and the Ballot Box' to make debut performance this weekend at East Bank Theatre
Months of planning and years of thoughts are finally coming to fruition for Carolyn Jones as her play, "Beauty and the Ballot Box", makes its debut performance this weekend at East Bank Theatre.
When the pandemic made Jones close the doors to her beauty salon, Modern Beauty Shop, she feared it would also close the lifetime of memories held within.
“With no actual salon, no customers, how am I going to preserve this story?” Jones asked herself.
She found herself going back to one of her first loves, writing, which also helped her get through the pandemic.
The result is a play that tells the story, with humor weaved throughout, of the women who owned and worked at the Modern Beauty Shop over the decades. They took steps to change the racial climate of Shreveport in the middle to late part of the 20th Century.
The team has been rehearsing for months, every day this week.
"I'm greatly excited,” Jones said. "A little apprehensive, but fully confident that God is going to help us get it done because he gave me the story.”
One of the actors is Jones' nephew, Edward White, who plays businessman Bunyan Jacobs.
"It's just a good reminder of not just where we come from as a people but specifically where my family came from. It's a beautiful thing," White said. "I'm just grateful to be able to be a part of it."
Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: 'Beauty and the Ballot Box' to debut this weekend at East Bank Theatre
