Rita Beckworth claims she was only trying to help her friends. She went from being a homeless woman living in the alley to a thriving blues singer and club owner in one fell swoop, and then decided to create the antidote to evil. But things did not turn out exactly as planned, and now she’s on trial, with you, the audience, as the jury.

Queen Rita’s Blues Alley combines drama, comedy, rhyme, poetry and song, and is a tribute to the blues and blues singers everywhere. It asks the investigative question, what is the best way to approach evil? Should we head-on acknowledge it and attempt to fight it, or does that merely strengthen it? Will ignoring it diminish its strength, denying it energizing fuel, or is this a rationalization to bury our heads in the sand? Or is evil merely a reflection of our own shadow selves and an aspect that needs to be embraced and integrated back into the whole?

Photos at On the Boards Theater by Nichole DeMent