WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — As the country prepares for the dedication of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s National Memorial in Washington, DC, August 28, 2011, playwright Janet Langhart Cohen echoes Dr. King's appeal for justice and equality in her compelling one-act play Anne and Emmett to be held at the Atlas Theatre, Washington, DC, November 3-6, 2011.

August 28 holds significant meaning for Langhart Cohen. It is not only the day Dr. King's Memorial will make history as the first African American to be honored on the National Mall, it is also the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and the 56th anniversary of the murder of Emmett Till. Her timely one-act play, Anne and Emmett, is an imaginary conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till, two teens murdered because she was Jewish and he was Black.

Anne Frank was 15 when she died in a German concentration camp. Her famous diary details her life from 1942 to 1944 as her family hid from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. Emmett Till, of Chicago, was 14 when he visited relatives in Mississippi in August 1955. Because he whistled at a white woman, he was kidnapped, beaten, shot, and his body dropped into the Tallahatchie River. It was this grisly event that sparked the Civil Rights Movement.

Langhart Cohen continues to honor her mentor, Dr. King, by using her riveting play Anne and Emmett as a catalyst for ongoing dialogue on racism, anti-Semitism, social injustice and reconciliation.

"Dr. King and I spent a great deal of time together during the last two years of his life. ?He was instrumental in shaping how I view the world. Much of our time together is detailed in my book My Life in Two America: From Rage to Reason," said Langhart Cohen. "Dr. King was a giant in spirit, soul and in life. His monument will continue to remind us of our hope, our hope for future generations, our hope that one day we will truly be equal. His dream lives on," she continued.

Anne and Emmett will be held at the Atlas Theatre, 1333 H Street, Washington, DC from November 3-6, 2011. For tickets, call 202.399.7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org. For information visit: www.anneandemmett.com.

SOURCE Langhart Communications