It will be 11 years this month that 12-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by Cleveland police, who were responding to a call that someone was waving a gun around near Cudell Recreation Center. Rice had a toy pellet gun. The police officers were never charged.

Tamir would have turned 23 years old in June this year.

Tamir RiceAs the city and Tamir Rice’s loved ones mark the anniversary of his death, Tamir’s mother, Samaria Rice, is teaming up with playwright, director, and award-winning former Karamu House artistic director Terrence Spivey to bring back the 2016 theatrical production that she says the community desperately needs for healing and expression.

“Objectively Reasonable: A Community Response to the Shooting of Tamir Rice, 11/22/14,” developed in 2016 by five Cleveland playwrights and acclaimed theater director Spivey, will be performed Saturday, Nov. 8 at Near West Theater in the Detroit Shoreway.

The production, produced in association with Spivey's Powerful Long Ladder, serves both as a memorial to the 12-year-old boy killed by police in 2014 and as a fundraiser for the Tamir Rice Afro-Centric Cultural Center, which Samaria Rice has been renovating since 2019.

"I wanted to bring back Tamir's community response from 2016 because it was very much needed in the community, who needed a way to express themselves, and I was just blown away by all of the expression and the pain that you actually feel from the production," says Rice.

"Objectively/Reasonable” was originally commissioned by the former Playwrights Local, an organization dedicated to working with Northeast Ohio dramatic writers. Written by Mike Geither, Tom Hayes, Lisa Langford, 2011 Cleveland Arts Prize winner for best emerging writer Michael Oatman, and David Todd, the production premiered at Playwrights Local within Waterloo Arts in 2016, with a major revival in 2017.

The 'Objectively/Reasonable' ensemble has been rehearsing for Saturday's performance at Disciples Christian Church, Ron Fuqua Art Space, and Gethsemane Baptist Church.The staging featured monologues written by the playwrights—each offering different perspectives on the shooting and its impact on the community. The original productions generated significant interest for touring, with performances at Oberlin College and Shaker Heights High School, but nothing came of taking “Objectively/Reasonable” on tour. "I don't think they expected that kind of demand, for a tour," recalls Spivey, who says Rice has tried for years to revive the staging.

The timing finally aligned this year. "She said, ‘Terrence, what are you doing in the fall,’” Spivey recalls. “I said, nothing right now, but…and [Samaria said], ‘I'm going to lock you down now.’ So she locked me down."

2025 revival ensemble members: Beloved Obeng, left, Milkovich School students Brandon Singleton and Kennedi Hudson next to spoken word artist Raja Belle Freeman, and Karamu House actor Prophet Seay in back.The ensemble has been rehearsing at as Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ron Fuqua home in MidTown, and Gethsemane Baptist Church in the Hough neighborhood, says Spivey.

Saturday’s performance will be "a combination of active stage, reading the script, and then some who are performing, dramatizing it,” Spivey explains. “It’s a combination of some singing and movement and some spoken word."

A reimagined production
The new staging will differ from the original, Spivey says, describing Saturday’s show as a "slash reading performance.” He says some parts will be more of a reading, while others will be more scripted and include music, singing, drumming, and movement.

The production will expand beyond Tamir's story to include other victims of police violence. "It's not just about Tamir—he's like the foundational voice for other names to be mentioned in the play," says Spivey.

He says he is incorporating multimedia elements and adding new voices, including a piece called "Water Cycles" by spoken word artist Raja Belle Freeman, which he says moved him the first time he heard Freeman perform.

“I said, ‘oh, I have to work with her one day,’ and I reached out to her,” Spivey recalls, “I love the way she delivers it [Water Cycles], so I included her piece in the play. And she said, ‘I'd like to be part of this.’”

Spoken word artist Raja Belle FreemanCommunity connection
Two Milkovich Middle School students from Spivey's after-school program, Ultimate Reach, will perform monologues originally written by young people, using art as a vehicle for community dialogue and healing around issues of police violence and racial justice.

Actor and director Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, known for her activism and extensive theater work, will incorporate music, song, movement, and multimedia into the performance.

"This is exciting,” Stickney says of the upcoming performance. “I was able to spend a little time learning a little bit more about Tamir, his life, and the things that he liked to do. What a beautiful face and energy.”

Stickney says “Objectively/Reasonable” is an opportunity to expand self-expression and expose young people to the arts.

"Studies have proven that when our children are involved in arts, their discipline and their behaviors improve,” she explains, emphasizing the transformative power of arts education. “We are that visual, audio, and kinesthetic. If we experience it, we've got it."

Creating a legacy
The staging of "Objectively/Reasonable” will help boost the cultural center in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood.

The Tamir Rice Afro-Centric Cultural Center will be a safe space for young people—offering various programs celebrating Black history and culture as well as honoring Tamir Rice's legacy.

"My son was quite interested, a big fan of the arts, because he loved to draw, he loved to act,” Rice says. “He was playing the drums in the sixth grade, which you can say is like really an all American kid. He loved sports—some of his favorite sports were soccer and basketball. He loved football and he loved to skateboard. He was a really exceptional child at the end of the day."

The 'Objectively/Reasonable' 2016 world premiere ensemble.The cultural center programming will include mentoring, tutoring, arts expression, and free music lessons. “We'll probably start off with the piano and drums, because I love the piano,” Rice says. “My son loved to play the keyboard too, but he could only do one activity at a time, and he chose the drums.”

Actress Phyllis Yvonne Stickney joins the “Objectively/Reasonable” ensemble this weekend. She has appeared films such as “Malcolm X,” “What's Love Got to Do with It,” and will star with Tracy Morgan in the upcoming series, “Crutch.”Spivey will lead the Tamir Reach program, which will focus on creative writing and drama. “We'll do some wellness and nutrition and economics and civic classes, as well as what it is to be part of city council,” explains Rice. “We’ll be [teaching them], growing up, making sure they're doing the right thing at the end of the day when it comes to community structure, infrastructure."

The center will also provide alternatives to incarceration for young people—working with the juvenile court system. "We try to team up with Juvenile Court, try to come in and do some programs there and just really create that safe and nurturing space," Rice says.

Stickney has implemented similar programs in other communities, and she says the importance of such programs should not be underestimated.

"What I realized is, [young people] just don't see, they just don't know that there are other options besides being what I call ‘street corner executives,’ or whatever,” she says. “They just don't see those other options."

Making progress
The renovation of the cultural center has been challenging, Rice says, adding that some of the professionals she hired were not trustworthy. "Unfortunately, I got a bad architect, and I got a bad contractor that kind of ripped me off,” she says. “So I’ve just been working and fundraising, trying to finish the building. I haven't gotten any assistance from Cleveland.”

Despite these obstacles, Rice says she is determined to complete the cultural center.

"I'm just a community worker at the end of the day because of what happened to my child,” she explains. “And I'm just doing what makes sense, and it's my way of healing."

Additionally, Stickney says the upcoming performance is about healing, resilience, and community.

"It can heal—it speaks to whatever the ill is, it speaks to whatever the celebration is,” she explains. “Now you've created this space to have an intelligent conversation about something that might not have been so simple before.”

Rice agrees with Stickney. “It's important to keep our voices relevant and keep our resilience relevant," she says.

"Objectively/Reasonable” will be staged on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6:45 p.m. at the Near West Theater, 6702 Detroit Ave., Cleveland 44102. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets are $108.55 with fees and benefit the Tamir Rice Foundation.