The Bookstore
Beacon Theatre Productions is excited to announce our 2026 Beacon Award winner is the play The Bookstore by Nancy Marie. The story takes place at the height of the Black Power movement in the 1960s when the FBI targeted Black independent booksellers. Join us for the staged reading of this Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, directed by Zuhairah, on May 1st at 7:30pm at First United Methodist Church of Germantown and May 2nd at 1:00pm at Parkway Central Library.* A talkback will follow each performance.
The play is about a young man’s attempt to fulfill his dream of meeting Malcolm X leads him to a bookstore in Harlem. Three years later, he returns as an unwilling participant in the COINTELPRO operation launched against it by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. The Bookstore is loosely based on and written in memory of Sister Una Mulzac and the Liberation Bookstore.
Beacon Theatre Productions spotlights critical moments of the past to show the way to a better future, with a mission to provide affordable and accessible theatre to underserved audiences in Philadelphia.
*Events at the Free Library of Philadelphia are always 100% free.
This event is part of 2026 Philly Theatre Week! A limited number of Pay-What-You-Can tickets are available for the following performances:
Friday, May 1st, 2026 at 7:30pm at First United Methodist Church of Germantown
6001 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 at 1:00pm at Parkway Central Library*
1901 Vine St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
*Events at the Free Library of Philadelphia are always 100% free. "
