The STORY behind The story
THE PLAYfollows a family GRAPPLING with the tragic loss of their teenaged son at the hands of police, telling the story of their fight for justice amidst their battle with grief.
All Rise began as a homework assignment. In playwright Evan McCreary’s senior year playwriting class, his final project was to write a one act play. Evan had been struggling with the assignment, unable to write something that felt both substantial and complete, but also honest and human. That all changed on the last night before the final draft was due…
That’s when Evan wrote the very first draft of All Rise, as a way of processing and understanding the social injustice and racism he was seeing and experiencing in world.
All Rise was first performed in his senior playwriting class semester showcase, with a cast of his fellow students. It was then selected to be included in Evan’s high school’s annual senior directed one-acts, where Evan made both his playwright and directorial debut.
All Rise premiers
All Rise premiered as part of West Linn High School’s annual student-directed one act performances, Shorts.
It was at this production that multidisciplinary artist R.E.T. attended on opening night, and returned with friend, Dr. S Renee Mitchell, a visionary artist, activist, and community leader based in Portland, Oregon.
The pair became the first people to believe in and see the potential of All Rise, far beyond the high school stage, and far beyond what Evan thought possible.
With Dr. Mitchell’s recommendation, All Rise was selected for inclusion in the Pacific Northwest Multicultural Readers Series and Film Festival, where McCreary became the youngest producer in the festival’s history.
From there, All Rise went on to be selected for production through the Artist in Residency program at Portland’s historic Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, a staple in the Black-theatre and arts community. McCreary became the youngest recipient of this opportunity in the organization’s history, respectively.
ALL RISE WILL NEXT BE PERFORMED AT
tHE ATLANTA BLACK THEATER FESTIVAL IN
September, 2026.
Seeing the power of all rise and EVan’s desire to use art as.a means of activism, or art-ivism, All Rise grew into something beyond the stage: a movement and a community, dedicated to advocating for all underrepresented peoples, through art & activism.
Always
rising.
Even after our last production, audiences are still inspired by the power and spirit of the story of All Rise. The script has continued to be workshopped and developed, & is more ready than ever to be renewed for the world.
See All Rise next at the
Atlanta Black Theatre Festival
Sep 2026
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