The story REVELATION by Flannery O'Connor enters the 21st century in a powerful audio drama and theatrical production directed by Karin Coonrod for Compagnia de' Colombari. Coonrod boldly gathers a diverse cast of eight actors to dramatize the conflicts that shape American society when race collides with religion in one southern town of the 1960s. The casting of BIPOC actors playing all the white characters in the doctor's office telescopes the agency of the actors as they play to the assumptions of the status quo Southern characters.

As told through the perspective of a white Southern Christian, middle-class woman, O’Connor bears witness to the racial realities that distort one’s vision of oneself and others. As her characters stumble through changing times, in the face of human hypocrisy, O’Connor uses action, pathos and humor to reveal what she describes as “the mystery of existence.” In her prophetic view of the world, O'Connor sees and enables us to see that oftentimes, violence precedes the encounter with grace.

Development and Production History:

Compagnia de’ Colombar’s REVELATION has been in development since 2021. Originally devised as a “radio play,” the Flannery O'Connor adaptation was first presented with actors in front of a live audience in 2023 at Sea Dog Theater in New York City (January 2023), at a reading in Georgetown University at The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics (April 2023) and a fully staged reading presentation at The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University (May 2023). Previous developments and presentations include The Flannery O'Connor Society Conference (August 2021), The Georgia College and State University Andalucia Institute (November 2021), and radio streaming in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (December 2022).