Adapted from the book for the stage, the production is co-directed by Mikael Burke and Taryn Fisher. The project was made possible by a generous grant from the Skokie Community Foundation, and it is a partnership effort of Northlight Theatre, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and Skokie Public Library.

Martin Rising tells the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final weeks in 1968. He spent those weeks supporting sanitation workers on strike in Memphis before he was murdered. The play is an original stage adaptation of Andrea Davis Pinkney's book, Martin Rising: Requiem for a King. It uses poetry from Pinkney’s book, as well as movement, music, and original scenes to bring Pinkney's words to life on the stage.

Writer Kay Thompson’s work is an examination of grief and the variety of ways it affects people. Dyamone Hopkins and Jalyn Greene play a couple dealing with grief in drastically different ways that eventually clash. This work is an honest look at different coping mechanisms and how we can begin to work through pain with another person.