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Trayvon Martin committed no crime, but he has already been on trial twice.

The first trialunfolded in the mind of George Zimmerman, the self-appointedjudge and jury who pursued and confronted the unarmed black teenager as he walked along a dark Florida street in February, 2011.

The second trial, in the ruthless court of public opinion, began the moment Martin died in a struggle over Zimmerman's gun. In that trial, cable news pundits and talk radio hosts presiding, Martin changed from the innocent, Skittle-eating teenager he was into a dangerous thug consumed with violent rage.

Now, Martin is on trial again, this time in a friendlier context: Gary Earl Ross' fine new play "The Trial of Trayvon Martin," running through May 6 in the Manny Fried Playhouse, a shoebox of a theater space on the fourth floor of the Great Arrow Building.

The setting may be friendlier and the playwright sympathetic to the plight of Martin and his family, it should surprise no one familiar with the American justice system that the outcome is devastating.

In his well-designed conceit, which lays bare theracial biases of the Florida courts, Ross has left all the details of that dark February night intact save for one important detail: In the struggle over Zimmerman's gun, Martin walked away and Zimmerman caught a lethal bullet.

Ross wants to know: In this entirely feasible situation, how would a 17-year-old black male come out? Or,to paraphrase Ross, does Florida's "stand-your-ground" law only applied to scared white people?

In his smart script, which plays out like an extended episode of "Law & Order" in a swift production directed by Kurt Schneiderman, Ross reveals an intricate knowledge of the criminal justice system in Florida. (It helps that his son is a Florida police officer, but Ross has obviously done his own research.)

New play flips tragedy of Trayvon Martin on its head

He has funneled his own outrage into the character of Imani Fairchild (Shawnell Tillery), a hard-charging defense lawyerintent on pulling some shredof justice from an already tattered situation.

The play opens with Zimmerman's 911 call and a subsequent reenactment of that February night, staged on Chris Wilson's set of translucent screens flecked with what might bespecks of blood.

Brian Brown plays Martin as he ways: ateenager perched on the awkward border between timidadolescence and confident adulthood. Rick Lattimer's Zimmerman, on the other hand, is a ball of vibrating rage and insecurity clearly seeking an outlet for his violent impulses.

For those interested in legal maneuvering, and especially how the deck is often stacked against young black men, the rest of the playwill unfold with the pace of Scott Turow novel.The not so nerdy among us may have less patience for the legalese Ross employs, but he weaves through plenty of emotion in the form of Fairchild's passionate asides and the musings of an unusually deliberative police detective played by Lawrence Roswell.

The acting in this production is uneven, and there are many moments in the play when Ross too obviously uses his characters -- Fairchild especially -- as an opportunity to speechify. Some of the court-room exchanges, especially Fairchild's extended explanations for her objections to the prosecutor's line of questioning or Roswell's explications of criminal law, are overwritten.

But for each those overdone moments, Ross incluses is a striking vignette that explores the relationship between Martin and his father, or between Zimmerman and hiswife (Brittany Bassett). And Schneiderman, in concert with lighting designer Hasheen DeBerry, gives those vignettes plenty of dramatic impact.

For anyone interested in the genesis of the Black Lives Matter movement, thechallenges of administering justice in America or even just a smart police procedural, Ross' "Trial of Trayvon Martin" is worth a look.

email: cdabkowski@buffnews.com

Theater Review

3 stars (out of four)

"The Trial of Trayvon Martin," a new drama by Gary Earl Ross, runs through May 6 in the Manny Fried Playhouse (255 Great Arrow Ave.). Tickets are $25 to $30. Call 408-0499 or visit subversivetheatre.org.

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'Trial of Trayvon Martin' takes aim at justice system - Buffalo News

Advertisers are fleeing The OReilly Factor following revelations that several women received a collective $13 million in settlements after accusing host Bill OReilly of sexual harassment.

But OReilly, who has worked at Fox News since the network launched in 1996, was a source of controversy long beforeThe New York Times published its bombshell report on the accusations against him. The anchor has a history of making racist, sexist or otherwise inflammatory remarks none of which prompted companies to pull advertisements from his show.

Heres a look back at some of OReillys worst moments in his 20 years at Fox News.

In 2004, Andrea Mackris, who was then a producer at Fox News,sued OReillyfor sexual harassment. Her allegations, which can be found here,include multiple instances of OReilly making lewd remarks during phone conversations.

OReilly denied the charges, butsettled the lawsuit. As HuffPosts Michael Calderone wrote earlier this week, the suit had no lasting effect on OReillys career at Fox News.

In 2015, Gawker reported on court documents that showed OReilly had been accused of physically abusing his former wife, Maureen McPhilmy. According to the report, OReillys daughter allegedly claimed she had seen her father dragging McPhilmy down a staircase by her neck.

OReilly said the report was 100 percent false. An appeals court, however, awarded McPhilmy primarycustody of the estranged couples two children.

Last month, OReilly mocked Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) hair during a segment of Fox & Friends.

I didnt hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig, he said. Do we have a picture of James Brown? Its the same wig.

OReilly later apologized for his comments, while Waters took him to task during an interview with MSNBCs Chris Hayes.

I am a strong black woman, and I cannot be intimidated. I cannot be undermined, she said.

Last year, The OReilly Factor aired a five-minute segment featuring longtime producer Jesse Watters walking around New York Citys Chinatown and asking residents offensive questions.

The segment drew widespread condemnation for blatantly mocking Asian-Americans and promoting racist stereotypes. OReilly, however, stood by Watters and the decision to air the segment.

Hes not getting fired, OReilly said. We are a program that is not politically correct.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a frequent target of Fox News scorn, and OReilly is no exception. Hes claimed the group is killing Americans, called it a destructive movement and declared that very few white Americans respect it.

Hes also labeled the movement a hate America group and said Martin Luther King Jr. would not participate in the groups protests.

In a 2013 interview with former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), OReilly blamed the death of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot to death by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, on how Martin was dressed at the time.

If Trayvon Martin had been wearing a jacket like you are and a tie like you are, Mr. West, this evening, I dont think George Zimmerman would have any problem, OReilly said. But he was wearing a hoodie and he looked a certain way. And that way is how gangstas look. And, therefore, he got attention.

Last July, OReilly argued that the then-president was incapable of fighting the Islamic State group because of his emotional attachment to the Muslim world, ties the anchor said had hurt the USA.

His argument largely hinged on photos appearing to show Obama attending his Muslim half-brothers wedding in the early 1990s, as well as information that his stepfather and father were Muslim (despite little evidence that Obama Sr. ever practiced Islam).

What we can tell you with certainty is that Barack Obama has deep emotional ties to Islam, OReilly said.

Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images

In 2003, OReilly described undocumented immigrants from Mexico as wetbacks while discussing security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

During the segment, OReilly argued in favor of using military force at the border.

Wed save lives because Mexican wetbacks, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes, theyre not going to do what theyre doing now, so people arent going to die in the desert, he said.

OReilly later said he misspoke.

I was groping for a term to describe the industry that brings people in here. It was not meant to disparage people in any way, he toldThe New York Times.

After first lady Michelle Obama made some emotional observationsin 2016 about what it was like as a black woman to live in a house built by slaves, OReilly seized the opportunity to mansplain that, actually, those slaves had it pretty good.

Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802, he said. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well.

After former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson sued Fox News chief Roger Ailes for sexual harassment (leading to his ouster), Fox News personality Megyn Kelly also came forward with allegations against the executive.

OReilly addressed the allegations on his show andcriticized Kelly for her decision to speak out.

If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance. You dont like whats happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave, he said. And then take the action you need to take afterward if you feel aggrieved. There are labor laws in this country. But dont run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it.

Kelly left the network for NBC less than two months later.

While OReillys stance on same-sex marriage appears to have shifted over the years, hes previously claimed that legalizing gay weddings would be a slippery slope toward allowing humans to marry animals, including ducks, goats, dolphins and turtles.

Laws that you think are in stone theyre gonna evaporate, man, he said in 2005. Youll be able to marry a goat you mark my words!

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Advertisers Boycotting Bill O'Reilly Ignored Years Of Offensive Comments - Huffington Post

For Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood, making the TV series, "Shots Fired," is directly tied to being parents of black teenage boys growing up in America.

The 10-part event series begins with a familiar headline that has a twist: A police officer fatally shoots an unarmed teenager; but contrary to many real life shootings, the cop in the show is African American, and the young victim is white. The show goes on to also include a second murder. That one is of a black teen and there's a mystery as to the identity of his killer.

The Bythewoods are the creators and show-runners of the series, which airs on Wednesday nights. They tell The Frame's John Horn thatthe seed of the idea goes back to a moment in July of 2013. Reggie says that he and their older son, who was 12 years old at the time, were watching the George Zimmerman verdict:

"When George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second degree murder of Trayvon Martin, our kid was blown away and got pretty emotional. And instead of hugging and consoling him and assuring him everything was going to be okay, I opened up my laptop and pulled up this Emmett Till documentary on YouTube. I thought it was time for my son to understand certain things about how the criminal justice system has worked in this country, and how the criminal justice system has not worked."

Bythewood goes on to say that a couple of things came from that experience: one, their older son would go on to write a short story about how Trayvon Martin meets Emmett Till in heaven; two, Reggie and Gina began the process of addressing the issues of race and the relationship between people of color and law enforcement through their art. So when the opportunity came to make a show with Fox, they leapt at the chance.

Gina tells The Frame that one reason they began the series with a police shooting that doesn't follow the usual narrative was also a reaction to the Zimmerman case:

"One of the things that struck is is the fact that you started hearing about people sending George Zimmerman money to help him with his legal fees, as if he was a victim. And people were not seeing Trayvon as a kid. They were not seeing his humanity. And that hurt us."

She says that in flipping the narrative to have a black officer shoot an unarmed white teen, they could promote empathy: "Once you start to empathize, you can then hopefully look and see when it happens to somebody else, you now understand what they're feeling. Once you can do that you can hopefully start to fight to change things."

"Shots Fired" airs at 8 pm Wednesdays on Fox. All episodes are available On Demand, on Hulu, and Fox Now.

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How the George Zimmerman verdict catalyzed the Fox series, 'Shots Fired' - 89.3 KPCC

THE TRIAL OF TRAYVON MARTIN

Subversive Theatre Collective

Buffalo playwright Gary Earl Ross is fascinated with that place where American jurisprudence meets race. In Matter of Intent, he created Temple Scott, a Kennedy era African American woman, who is a Perry Mason style attorney, determined to exonerate her client. In Mark of Cain, he used the real 1925 case in which Clarence Darrow defended an African American man who used a gun to defend his home from a hostile mob.

The title of his new play might seem to tell it all: The Trial of Trayvon Martin. But let us recall, it was George Zimmerman who went on trial. African American Trayvon Martin was shot to death and Caucasian Zimmerman was acquitted by a Florida law that supported his right to stand hisground. In this courtroom drama, Ross challenges us by imagining, What if it was George Zimmerman who had died on that fateful night in 2012? The production, directed by Kurt Schneiderman, features Shawnell Tillery, Brian Brown, Rick Lattimer, Lawrence Rowswell, Leon Copeland, Jr., Kunji Rey, Brittany Bassett, VerNia Garvin, and Michael Mottern, and begins performances on April 6th.

Road Less Traveled Theater

In a theater season that will also feature the Irish Classical Theatre production of Noel Cowards Hay Fever, about the remarkable and theatrical Bliss family, Road Less Traveled offers us another love letter to theater families, Donald Marguliess The Country House. Set among the famous and aspiring at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the play chronicles what happens when the easy availability of emotion ignites the jealousies and passions of show folk. Scott Behrend, who served as assistant director for the Los Angeles production that starred Blythe Danner, takes the helm as director at his own theater. The Country House stars Christian Brandjes, Kristen Tripp-Kelley, Chris Kelly, Peter Palmisano, Barbara Link Larou, and Renee Landrigan. Performances will begin on April 28th.

Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY

The Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY continues its season dedicated to the work of Amy Herzog with The Great God Pan. Jamie is a man living the American Dream with his perfect Brooklyn family. That is, until a childhood friends pays a visit. Has Jamie repressed a horrific childhood experience? Directed by Saul Elkin, the production features Kelly Beuth, Jordan Louis Fischer, Darleen Pickering Hummert, Amelia Scinta, Steve Vaughan, Lisa Vitrano, and Adam Yellen. Performances begin on April 27th at the Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, at the Jewish Community Center at 2640 North Forest Road in Getzville.

Alleyway Theatre

Neal Radice, founder of Alleyway Theatre, has penned prolific output of plays. His scripts include Night Work, a play plumbed from his family history about a World War I era court case involving the rights of women to work without restrictions; Minimum Habitat, an evening of vignettes, from birth to death, all set in bed; and his every popular adaptation of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. His musicals are also numerous, including versions of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Peer Gynt, and retellings of the local histories of The Ghost of Fort Niagara, and Over the Falls, the story of Annie Edson Taylor; the first person to plunge over Niagara Falls and survive.

Now, with Im Fine, Radice turns his attention to Mike, a middle-aged man who finds that a sense of humor is necessary as he treads the path of being a widower, from grief, to finances, to dealing with family, regret, his career, cooking, loneliness, the absurdity of online dating, and inevitably, sex. The cast features Ray Boucher, Emily Yancy, Joyce Stilson, and James Cichocki. The production opens on April 20th.

MusicalFare

This musical by Colin Escott & Floyd Mutrux, takes us back to Sun Record Studios in Memphis Tennessee, on one historic night in 1956 when Elvis Presley, Jery Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash took part in an impromptu jam session. Directed by Randall Kramer, the production features Brandon Barry, Steve Copps, Jeffrey Coyle, Arianne Davidow, Joseph Donohue III, Brian McMahon, Andrew J. Reimers, and Dave Siegfried. Performances start on April 19th at MusicalFare in Snyder.

Irish Classical Theatre Company

In the 1960s, playwrights like Noel Coward, Somerset Maugham, and Terence Rattigan were considered to be entirely pass. Their reputations were dead. Their plays were out of print. It was the age of the Angry Young Men. Now, oblivion seems to have caught up with the post war generation, and the works of Coward, Maugham, and Rattigan are back in vogue, considered to be classics, and are produced everywhere. This month, the Irish Classical Theatre Company will present Rattigans The Winslow Boy a 1946 play that explores the intersection of justice and class privilege. A young naval cadet is falsely accused of stealing a five-shilling note. This mark on his reputation threatens to ruin his life and to destroy his entire family. One of the most prominent barristers of the day agrees to defend the boy. The real life 1910 incident on which the play is based was famous. The real life attorney was Sir Edward Carson, the same man who prosecuted Oscar Wilde. The genius of Rattigan takes real life to fashion compelling drama. Directed by Brian Cavanagh, the production features Collan Zimmerman, Robert Rutland, Pamela Rose Mangus, Kevin Craig, Kate LoConti, Ben Moran, Todd Benzi, and Matt Witten. Performances begin on April 21st.

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A ROUNDUP OF COMING PLAYS by Anthony Chase - Artvoice

Thursday, April 06, 2017 5:32 p.m. CDT

By Timothy Mclaughlin

(Reuters) - Iowa lawmakers on Thursday approved amended legislation that would enact sweeping changes to the state's gun regulations, including a "stand your ground" provision, and sent it to the governor for final approval.

The bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, says a law-abiding person does not have to retreat before using deadly force.

A similar measure in Florida was thrust into the national spotlight in 2012 after the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder after the law was included in jury instructions.

At least 24 other states have similar measures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Iowa bill allows for children under the age of 14 to use handguns while under the supervision of an adult who is 21 or older. It also says gun owners with permits can bring concealed handguns into capitol buildings.

Republican state Representative Matt Windschitl said on the House floor on Thursday the bill was, "the most monumental piece of Second Amendment legislation this state has ever seen."

The bill also would make gun permits valid for five years, with a background check required when the permit is issued. Under the current law, permits are valid for one year with an annual background check.

The bill passed the state Senate on Tuesday and the House last month. The House voted on it again on Thursday to approve changes made in the Senate before advancing it to the desk of Republican Governor Terry Branstad.

A spokesman for Branstad did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The bill has been criticized by gun control advocates, who say it could increase gun violence.

"We have had very good gun laws," the Reverend Cheryl Thomas of Iowans for Gun Safety said by telephone. "With the passage of this law, we are going to lose that status."

Iowans for Gun Safety want Branstad to veto the measure.

Previous attempts to change the state's gun regulations have been blocked by Democrats, who held a majority in the Senate until November.

Following the election, Republican lawmakers control the Senate, House and governor's office for the first time in nearly two decades.

Republicans have used their majority to push through a number of bills during this legislative session, including drastic changes to the state's collective bargaining laws.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Iowa poised for major overhaul to gun regulations - KFGO