GARTH WILLIAMS, 50ish or older, a white writer and illustrator from the East Coast, who also assumes the roles of OTHERS, including aged, sickly Alabama State Representative BOBBY CRONE, Montgomery newspaper reporter HERSCHEL WEBB, segregationist columnist HENRY BRANCH, a RADIO ANNOUNCER and WHITE PASSERSBY. GARTH should be watchful and omnipresent, when practical.
LILY WHITFIELD, 32, a white woman from small-town Alabama privilege; genteel Alabama accent. She is sheltered, ashamed, loyal, religious, garrulous, charming, unhappily married, all façade, ready to blossom.
JOSHUA MOORE, 32, upwardly mobile middle-class African-American man, who left Alabama more than a decade ago; purposely subtle and suppressed Alabama accent, which becomes pronounced when agitated. He is aspirational, loyal, kind, worldly, happily married, slow to boil, a disciple of Dr. King.
SENATOR E.W. HIGGINS, 50ish or more, a white Alabama State Senator; pronounced but not extreme Alabama accent. He is a charmer, a bully, a poisoner, a politician, a victim of the world be grew up in.
EMILY WHEELOCK REED, 50ish or more, a white librarian, the State Librarian of Alabama, born in North Carolina and raised in Indiana; no Southern accent. She has no sense of humor, she does not suffer fools, she is all-business.
THOMAS FRANKLIN, 28, a white reference librarian, Emily's assistant, an Alabama native; genteel, educated, pronounced Alabama accent. He is officious, efficient, slightly uncomfortable in his own skin. Neutral and objective when conveying information.
