Ohio University playwright Charles Smith's new Bicentennial play, "Free Man of Color" opens on Friday night at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater. The play examines the life of John Newton Templeton, who became Ohio University's first African-American graduate in 1828.

A freed slave, Templeton developed a close and unique relationship with Ohio University President Robert Wilson and his wife, Jane, devout Presbyterians, who were highly involved in the United States' relationship with Liberia, an African country that was being used as a colony for freed American slaves at the time. During the play, Templeton searches for the answer to the question, "Is a freed slave really free?"

"Free Man of Color" runs in Chicago, Jan. 16 through Feb. 29. Call the Victory Gardens box office at (773) 871-3000 for tickets and information, or purchase tickets online at www.Ticketweb.com. For more information about the play in Chicago, visit the Victory Gardens Theater Web site at www.victorygardens.org/. 

"Free Man of Color" plays in Athens at 8 p.m. March 10-13 at Ohio University's Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall. For tickets or more information, call the College of Fine Arts box office at (740) 593-4800.

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