The Mighty McKeithens: A Play-in-Progress

The Mighty McKeithans: A Presentation of a Play-in-Progress

Darren Canady (Professor, English)

WED OCT 28, 12:00 - 1:30 PM

Hall Center Conference Hall

In The Mighty McKeithens, Darren Michael Canady traces the unraveling of a gospel music dynasty. Marquez McKeithen is the dynamo musical scion of the Miraculous McKeithens, a “gospel-sangin’” family with hits that go back generations, but he knows the sounds that brought them fame won’t sustain them into the next generation. His twin, Martika, a gifted songwriter, senses another kind of change coming. Born with a caul, family lore holds that she has the gift of second sight.

With two actors portraying all the characters, Canady lets the ghosts and echoes of the McKeithen clan’s unacknowledged queerness bubble up in the voices and bodies of Marquez and Martika, drawing the twins toward using their faith as a truth-telling balm rather than a cudgel and unlocking a future free of shame.