6 | programfeature
A STORY THAT MUST BE TOLD Award-winning playwright Lydia R. Diamond recalls how she came to shed light on an icon of professional baseball STORY BY
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Sally Henry Fuller
f there’s one avenue that can link the often polar opposite worlds of sports and the arts, it’s theatre. Playwright Lydia R. Diamond (Stick Fly, The Bluest Eye) would say herself that she does not have “the sports gene” — the undying love that sports fans have for their sports. And yet, Diamond still found herself diving into the world of baseball research for Toni Stone. The journey began when theatre producer Samantha Barrie and director Pam MacKinnon wanted to bring Toni Stone’s story to the stage after learning about her in Martha Ackmann’s book, Curveball. Barrie and MacKinnon then picked out Lydia R. Diamond specifically as the playwright for the job.
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