Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse Welcomes Intersection of Lincoln and Parks to the Stage

Local Playwright’s Work Offers In-Depth Look Into Life Of  Rosa Parks 

Boca Raton, FL – In February 2021, the Palm Beach Institute for the Entertainment Arts (PBIEA), a small intimate theater in North Palm Beach, celebrated Black History Month, by bringing the  original play – INTERSECTION OF LINCOLN AND PARKS – to their stage. That production generated  interest from a member of the Kravis Center’s staff and this February, the show makes its debut at the  Rinker Playhouse.  

Written by local author/playwright Donna Carbone and directed and narrated by Broadway star  Avery Sommers, INTERSECTION asks the audience to imagine what would have happened the night Rosa  Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus had the last living relative of Abraham Lincoln also been a  passenger. February is the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ birthday. 

Donna Carbone, who has written several mystery novels set in Palm Beach County, serves as managing  director at PBIEA. Under her leadership, productions have grown in size and number. During the shutdown  caused by covid, she contacted friend and colleague Avery Sommers and asked her to help achieve the  goals she had set for the Institute. 

Carbone and Sommers had been friends for a few years. They had worked together on Carbone’s play, Shell  of a Man, which Sommers directed. The show was a success! When they discussed casting for Intersection  of Lincoln and Parks, they agreed that the perfect choice was PBIEA repertory company member, Audrena  Scurry. Scurry appeared in Shell of a Man and, more recently, in Cocktails and Conversations at the  Institute. She is what both Carbone and Sommers call “an actor’s actor.”  

Carbone explained, “When you see someone who shines as a performer… someone who makes a  performance seem effortless… that actor is a breed apart. He or she never complains about the exhausting  work that goes into rehearsing. They do not talk about sleepless nights or nervous stomachs. They become  the character they are portraying to such a degree that the audience forgets they are watching a show. When  Audrena steps out onto to the stage as Rosa, she IS Rosa. It takes but a second for the audience to forget  that it is not the Rosa who is speaking to them.” 

Sommers went on to say, “We are lucky to have been able to add four additional cast members who work  as hard and give as much as Audrena. David Barnhart will play the role of R. Todd Lincoln Beckwith,  Abraham Lincoln’s last living relative. James Ferrigno will play the role of James Blake, the bus driver  who was the catalyst for the events of December 1, 1955. Twin sisters Marcella Foster and Marcia Foster 

portray protestors/supporters of Rosa Parks. All performers are a part of the Institute’s repertory company.” Marcella has the distinction of actually having met Rosa many years ago. 

Show dates at the Kravis are Thursday – February 24, Friday – February 25, and Saturday – February 26.  There is a special show on the morning of February 25 for students in Palm Beach County schools. Ticket  information is available on the Kravis Center’s website: https://www.kravis.org/events/intersection/ 

PBIEA is a community-minded non-profit. It is both a school and a theater. The Institute’s focus is  education through entertainment. 

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