On February 25, Performance Riverside and the California Theatre Center (CTC) bring a theatrical adaptation of The Cay, Theodore Taylor’s award-winning tale of survival, brotherhood, and sacrifice to the stage at the Landis Performing Arts Center for a one-afternoon only performance.

Dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the winner of 11 awards for children’s literature, The Cay (1969), remains a powerful classic as a theater performance, set within a terrific adventure story. In 1942, 11-year-old Phillip Enright visits his father who is working on the island of Curacao, 44 miles north of South America. When World War II moves too close for comfort, Phillip’s mother decides to take him home to Virginia, but their boat is torpedoed. Blinded in the attack, Phillip ends up adrift on a life raft with an old black man and a cat. The trio eventually land on a cay (a small, low island or reef of sand) where Phillip, who is white, grows to trust and ultimately love the patient and generous Timothy. The Cay has a clear message that friendship is colorblind.

The California Theatre Center’s production was adapted from the Taylor novel by CTC Artistic Director Dr. Gayle Cornelison. It features Actor’s Equity Association artists Clayton B. Hodges as Phillip and Alan Bomar Jones as Timothy. Also appearing is CTC actor Jeremy D. Smith.

The Landis Performing Arts Center is located at Riverside City College at 4800 Magnolia Avenue. Tickets for The Cay are $19, $14, $11, with specially discounted tickets in the General Admission section at only $10. Tickets are available at the Landis Performing Arts Box Office, or by phone at 951-222-8100.