Everything That Rises Must Converge directed and adapted by Karin Coonrod is a tragic-comedic seat-shifting dance between Blacks and whites on a bus in America's deep South, performed verbatim as written in O’Connor’s original 1961 text. Seven diverse actors bounce between characters and the chorus, witnessing, embodying and responding to the uncomfortable situations in O’Connor’s story, where generations, cultures, and staunchly held beliefs clash and self-righteousness, ingrained fears and prejudices conflict with the most profound human need: to love and connect.

The story draws upon the platitudes perpetuated by an older culture and the misery of disenfranchised youth. The collision of generations and races on a bus ride mines an existential truth: "If you know who you are, you can go anywhere." The story examines and overturns hideous cultural assumptions and the theatrical adaptation puts these assumptions in a relief that exposes–through comedy and sorrow–the necessity for a new consciousness. In Everything That Rises Must Converge, love takes no prisoners; everyone must converge.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:

The theatrical adaptation of Everything That Rises Must Converge was first developed (with two other stories, A View of the Woods and Greenleaf) at the University of Iowa in 1998, at Sundance Theatre Lab in 1999, and Off-Broadway to sold-out audiences at New York Theatre Workshop in 2001. Subsequently, ETRMC played in Rome in 2009 and on tour around the United States of America and Colombari’s home base of New York City in 2014, 2015, and 2019. The 2024 marks a triumphant return to Rome, New York City, and premieres in Texas, North Carolina and two New York State detention centers.

EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE

THEATRICAL TOUR FALL 2024

Rome, ITALY - Flannery O'Connor Conference 

September 18 and 19 at 7PM (19:00)

La Sapienza University

Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

(presso la cripta della Cappella della Divina Sapienza)

September 20 and 21*at 7PM (19:00)

The Oratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravita

(near Sant'Ignazio Church)

7, via del Caravita, 00186 Rome, Italy

USA TOUR:

Houston, TX - October 1 & 2 at 7pm at the Jones Hall Auditorium at the University of St. Thomas (FREE admission, RSVP HERE). Visit flanneryinhouston.org for more information.

Bedford Hills, NY - October 8 at Taconic Correctional Facility

Belmont, NC - October 10 at 8pm at the Belmont Abbey College Haid Theatre (FREE admission, RSVP HERE)

Bronx, NYC - October 12 at Bronx Community Reentry Center

Brooklyn, NYC - October 13 at St. Paul's Church. Doors at 5:30pm, show at 6pm, 7pm party ($25 tickets are available HERE)

The year 2024 marks Compagnia de’ Colombari’s 20th anniversary season and the triumphant return of Everything That Rises Must Converge to Rome for four performances with workshops and talkbacks fifteen years after its premiere at the International Flannery O’Connor Conference in Rome, organized by the Poetics and Christianity Project in 2009. The show has toured the USA and internationally since and is embarking on a tour across America through October following the performances in Rome. 

ETRMC will be witnessed for the first time in Texas and North Carolina, with performances at two New York State detention centers and a return to New York City, Colombari’s home base. 

The theatrical adaptation of Everything That Rises Must Converge was first developed (with two other stories, A View of the Woods and Greenleaf) at the University of Iowa in 1998, at Sundance Theatre Lab in 1999, and Off-Broadway to sold-out audiences at New York Theatre Workshop in 2001.

Karin Coonrod is the sole adaptor of O’Connor’s works for theatre, given permission directly from the estate. She felt called to bring O'Connor’s–a compelling, courageous, and controversial writer–worlds and words to the stage after encountering her stories at age 19 in an American literature class. To Coonrod, O'Connor is the American Dante, from the red clay of Georgia to the realm beyond.

Press for Everything That Rises Must Converge:

"The Compagnia de’ Colombari theater company has taken Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” and turned it into the cornerstone of its 20th anniversary season. The New York troupe found demand for the show so great that it is taking it on the road for an international tour. O’Connor’s story, published in 1961, is set in an unnamed Southern city, drawing tension from passengers navigating a newly integrated bus route." – The Houston Chronicle

"Watching the diverse cast bring O'Connor's words to life, I was struck by how the story's power transcends its specific time and place. The actors, hailing from various backgrounds, embodied the universal truths at the heart of the tale. It was a reminder that while the particulars of our struggles may change, the core of the human experience remains constant.

Most importantly, we must resist the temptation to see the world in black and white. O'Connor's genius lies in her ability to paint in shades of gray to show how good and evil, love and hate, can coexist within the same heart. By embracing this complexity, we open ourselves up to the possibility of real change – both personal and societal.

As 'Everything That Rises Must Converge' continues its American tour, I hope audiences will see it not just as a period piece but as a living, breathing challenge to our current moment. O'Connor's bus is still rolling, and we're all passengers. The question is: will we have the courage to truly see our fellow travelers, to recognize our shared humanity beneath the superficial differences that divide us? It's a journey that demands discomfort, honesty, and no small amount of grace. But if we can rise to the challenge, we might just find that elusive convergence O'Connor hinted at – a coming together not in spite of our differences but because of them. In a nation as deeply divided as ours, that's a destination worth striving for." – Silvia Guidi, L’Osservatore Romano 

“O'Connor's Southerners, warped to comic grotesqueness by societal change and the insularity of rural life or presumed privilege, are richly described and sympathetically observed. Overflowing with idiosyncrasies and postures of self-defense, they are among American literature's most painfully and amusingly doomed characters. All of this makes tasty fodder for the actors.” – Bruce Webber, The New York Times

“In Karin Coonrod’s production of Everything That Rises Must Converge in Rome, the ‘interracial ballet’ on stage invites interpretations about O’Connor’s narrative art, her politics of race, and her search to find ‘the hidden love that makes a man . . . give up his life to the service of God’s people.’” – Susan Srigley, Flannery O’Connor Review

EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE 2024 Rome & USA Tour Credits:

COMPANY OF ACTORS:

Christopher McLinden

Paul Pryce

Stacey Scott

Ean Sheehy

Elizabeth Stahlmann

Carlton Terrence Taylor

Welker White

CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM CREDITS:

Adaptor and Director: Karin Coonrod

Assistant Director & Music Director: Carlton Terrence Taylor

Costume Designer: Karin Coonrod and the company

Hat Design: Oana Botez

Costume Coordinator: Demarius Kennedy

Lighting Design: Christopher Akerlind

Production Stage Manager: Kasper

Company Manager: Anna Crivelli

Compagnia de’ Colombari:

Artistic Director: Karin Coonrod

General Manager: Jennifer Harrison Newman

Development Manager: Sofia Crouch

Publicist, Marketing & Communications Manager: Cindy Sibilsky