A gun, a rumor and the play A Shot in the Dark

By now, you've seen the posters advertising the phrases: " All it takes is one rumor ... and one gun." The Johns Hopkins University Dunbar Baldwin Hughes Theatre Company will present A Shot in the Dark, a drama in two acts written and directed by Benedict A. Dorsey. The play will raise its' curtain the night of Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Arellano Theater in the basement of Levering. The production is taking place this weekend as a special Parent's Weekend presentation.

The play, as described by junior Cheryl Lewis, who is one of the actors in the play, is a setup of teenagers in inner city Baltimore who do volunteer service together. The death of a gang leader is the central event in the play, and brings out such issues as sex, violence, drugs, and death among the remaining teenagers. All of the characters have different connections to the gang leader: some liked him, some hated him and his girlfriend is present as well. The story-line, Lewis says, is derived from Dorsey's past experiences with the members of inner-city Baltimore, based on probable events.

Dunbar is a financial aid officer in the Student Financial Aid Office on the Homewood campus. In his past he attended Loyola College, served in the military until 1987, then returned to Baltimore where in 1988 he was ordained a junior bishop in Greater Graces Churches Worldwide Church.

In 1993 he became a full-time bishop and pastor in the nearby area, right along the same time he came to work at JHU from Howard University. He is director of the Dunbar Baldwin Hughes Theatre Company, better known as the DBH, and has also participated immensely in Black History Month events and other productions on campus.

The DBH serves to uplift the JHU student community by producing African-American plays, skits, monologues, poetry recitals and creative dance presentations. They hope to "add exposure to the traditions and experiences of African-Americans while at the same time supplementing the experience, training and exposure of the company's actors."

Tickets for students cost $3 and admission for the general public is $5. For more information, call (410)-516-5473 or look for those posters we have all seen around campus. Come out this weekend to the Arellano Theater to see what can happen with one rumor and a gun.