Columbus playwright adapts Civil War story for Family Theatre

After reading a children’s book about an interracial friendship that blossomed between two boy soldiers during the Civil War, Cheryl Palmour decided she wanted to adapt the story for theater.

Palmour contacted the author, Patricia Polacco, who granted her permission. Now, the play, “Pink and Say,” begins its final weekend at the Family Theatre, located at 2100 Hamilton Road, Columbus. It will be presented 7:30 p.m. tonight (Thursday) through Saturday.

“This story really touched my heart when I read it,” said Palmour. “I knew this would be the play to adapt and present.”

“Pink and Say” is based on the true story of Polacco’s ancestor, Sheldon Curtis, who was a white Union soldier. Wounded in battle, Sheldon is rescued by a black Union soldier, Pinkus Aylee. The book title gets its name from their nicknames, “Pink” for Pinkus and “Say” for Sheldon. Pinkus takes Sheldon to his mother, Moe Moe Bay, who is still in the slave cabin at the burned out plantation.

The play, directed by Palmour, is set in Georgia during Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s famous March to the Sea. It features music from the period and actors from Columbus, Columbus State University, and Harris County. Jonathan Lobley, a senior home school student, plays Sheldon. Tyler Parks, a theater student at CSU, portrays Pinkus. Palela Sanchez is Pinkus’ mother.

Rounding out the cast are Joseph Bryant, Hunter Dean, Phil Bryant, Jena Wentland, Brittany Whitehurst, Paul Forrester, Jason Cardwell and Spenser Cardwell.In 2010 Palmour, the theater’s artistic/managing director, also adapted “Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree” for the Columbus Public Library’s Big Read. She visited battlefields in Virginia to get a better understanding of what they were like. “When one stands on those battlefields, one gets an idea of what went on there,” she said.

“This story is not so much about a battle, as about the human aspect of a war that almost tore this country apart,” Palmour said about “Pink and Say.” “It is about compassion and friendship formed quickly amidst the horrors of war. ”

Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for military and seniors, and $8 for students. For more information, call 706-366-7196.

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Columbus playwright adapts Civil War story for Family Theatre."