The Best of Enemies: Durham History from Page to Stage

A new theatrical production based on the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, by Osha Gray Davidson, opens at Durham’s Manbites Dog Theater on December 6. The play, The Best of Enemies, was written by Mark St. Germain. Advance tickets for tomorrow’s opening night show are sold out (some additional tickets will be sold at the door), but you can still purchase tickets for other performances at the theater website. The show runs through December 18.

About the story:

In a relationship that defied all odds in 1960s North Carolina, C.P. Ellis (a poor white member of the KKK) and Ann Atwater (a poor black civil rights activist) went from being each other’s worst and most hostile enemies to forming an incredible, long-lasting friendship. Their surprising story demonstrates that race is intimately tied to issues of class, and that cooperation is possible—even in the most divisive situations—when people begin to listen to one another.