Actors Theatre Stages Play about Derby Cruising

Actors Theatre of Louisville’s apprentice company is premiering a new play this weekend about Derby cruising. “Cruising the Divide: From West Broadway to Churchill Downs” is a play written by Will MacAdams who directs the theater’s apprentice company. The company worked with him to conduct interviews with people in city about the Kentucky Derby and cruising. The latter became a contentious issue in 2005 after a homicide on West Broadway and traffic clogged the street.To create the story, MacAdams combined words taken from the interviews with his own thoughts about the city and cruising. His experience with the play and living here has affected his view of Louisville."This is a very divided city in lots of ways and at the same time it’s a festival city," he says. "So you have all these chances for everyone to come together and enjoy each other’s company. And at the same time, there’s a lot of segregation, a lot of divisions that people draw and are drawn for them."Members of the apprentice company began interviewing to people throughout the city about Kentucky Derby and Derby weekend cruising. Apprentice Genesis Oliver is in the play."I think this is an opportunity for people who usually don’t come to the theater or have their voices heard to see that and other people will have an opportunity to know what the people we interviewed are feeling and thinking," he says.The play runs for three performances this week.