Alabama Story Addresses The Fight Over Censorship In A New Jersey Production

With the effort to ban books and censorship at historic highs, the Theater Project is bringing the issue to the forefront with its production of Alabama Story, opening August 6 at the Douglas Michael Krueger Black Box Theater in Union.

Set during the Civil Rights Movement in 1959, Alabama Story follows the efforts of librarian Emily Wheelock Reed as politicians in the South pressure her to ban the 1958 children’s book, The Rabbits’ Wedding by Garth Williams, from state libraries due to what was perceived as promoting interracial marriage with a white rabbit marrying a black rabbit. Reed had already begun serving as Director of the Alabama Public Library Service Division before the controversy. 

Alongside the true story, playwright Kenneth Jones weaves a fictional friendship between a Black man and a White woman navigating segregation-era Alabama. 

“These are two friends trying to reconnect, and their lives become a reflection of the black rabbit and white rabbit story,” says Mark Spina, Artistic Director of the Theatre Project. “This is happening across all of these lines of tension between civil rights and segregation practices that are very much in evidence in Alabama at that time and could not have been more overt than it was.”

Leading the attack against Williams’s children’s book was Alabama State Senator Edward Oswell Eddins. Reed felt that it was the library’s responsibility to provide information regarding racial integration. She would leave the children’s book on a special reserve shelf for those interested in it. For the rest of her life, Reed would continue to support intellectual freedom by becoming a member of the Freedom to Read Foundation.

“Reed refused to remove the book,” says Spina. “She got hate mail for her stance, and her job was in jeopardy. But she stood for the principle of the freedom to read.”

The stand Reed made would not be recognized until much later in her life, something the play touches on. 

As a theater that remains socially conscious with its plays, the Theater Project chose Alabama Story for its themes of censorship and intellectual freedom, a topic as relevant today as it was almost 70 years ago.

According to the American Library Association, more than 4,200 book titles were challenged nationwide in 2025, with most efforts led by organized advocacy groups or government officials. Many of the targeted books addressed race, gender, or American history.

“When I saw this script about this heroic librarian, I thought, well, what better tie-in could there be to our new location than this play about a librarian and actually being in a library,” says Spina. “It was too good to resist.”

Spina, who is directing the production, hopes that most librarians will see what challenges they’re facing through this play. 

There are nuances to both characters that are explored, such as growing up in a segregated society, the assumptions that come with it, and how it prevents us from connecting as human beings.

“It’s an opportunity to marvel at the fact that so many things that we thought were in the rearview mirror are very present again,” says Spina. 

“Alabama Story” will have two panel discussions made up of local librarians to discuss censorship and the pressure on librarians to remove material that some find objectionable. The discussions will be interactive between the librarians and the audience following performances on Friday, August 7, and Thursday, August 13, after the 10 a.m. matinees. 

Participating librarians include Leanne N. Manna of Linden, Kathy Cannorozzi of Cranford, Kassundra Miller of Union, and Amanda Eigen of Maplewood. 

Tickets for Alabama Story can be found online at thetheaterproject.org/alabama-story.  

The DMK Black Box Theatre is located at 1980 Morris Ave., Union.