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The WordPlayers Theatre Company presented ‘Althea and Angela’ by Todd Olson at the William H. Inman Humanities Theatre on Walters State’s Morristown Campus.

This is the 11 stop on a 17 stop tour through its History Touring Show and was made possible by the Morristown Task Force on Diversity.

The play takes place in 1955 and tells the story of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton, world-ranked tennis players who no one wanted to partner with for women’s double’s.

Althea, a black woman from Harlem, and Angela, a Jewish woman from Liverpool, were outcasts in two nations. So they decided to join forces outside their own country. What happened then made history.

The stage play, directed by Will Dorsey, features a small cast consisting of three actors and featured music performed by Gibson.

In the role of Althea, Kristina Walker takes on the role of the strong athlete. This is Walkers’ fifth production with the theatre company.

In Celeste Pelletier’s first production with Word Players she takes on the role of Angela, the talented athlete and kind friend to Althea.

Ethan Norman, an artistic associate with the WordPlayers, took on several roles in the production to keep the play moving, including Queen Elizabeth II.

The two actors had a lot to prepare when becoming two historic athletes, specifically learn the history of their two characters.

“With the shows I have worked on with WordPlayers I have learned more about my history and culture than I ever did in school,” Walker said. “I resonated with Althea, because I have been a tomboy my entire life. To be this character I did research to see who she was and what she stood for. She never took no for an answer, did what her heart wanted to do and wouldn’t let anyone tear her down.”

“I was introduced to the story of these two through this production,” Pelletiers said. “It was easy to do some research and see how they presented themselves. Especially with Angela, as I looked at pictures of the two together, Angela always seemed more girly and I built the character off that perception.”

“It is easier to become a character who is a historic figure because we can find more information about them and who they are, but it also brings a greater sense of responsibility to accurately display the character,” Norman said.

Norman highlighted the importance of showing stories about racial inequality on stage.

“Telling these types of stories is very important, especially for the younger generation because they can actually see the injustice in front of them,” Norman said. “We can tell them what is right and what is wrong all day, but for them to actually see it in front of them and see the racism people go through is very impactful.”

An audience member thanked the cast and crew for producing this production by

“It is so important that we share stories of these athletes to children of color to tell them that there are other sports that they can excel in while also preserving the history of our people who have paved the way for us to have the opportunity to be successful.”

The WordPlayer’s production of ‘Althea and Angela’ will continue its tour at Roane State on Tue., Feb. 28 at 12:30 PM, followed by a performance Wed., Mar. 1 at 2 p.m. on Walters State’s Sevierville Campus.