An immersive audio dramatization featuring 15 award-winning actors, The Real Education of TJ Crowley is a fast-paced, suspenseful coming-of-age story. A heartrending yet hopeful tale, it vividly transports listeners to the American heartland at the height of the Civil Rights movement.

Inspired by true events, this adaptation by director/producer May Wuthrich and Grant Overstake, author of the acclaimed novel, recaptures the trials faced by a generation of young teens.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s slaying sparks riots as the bitter divide over civil rights and the Vietnam War wracks the country, and Wichita, Kansas is no exception. There, 13-year-old TJ Crowley, who’s about to face his first year of junior high at a newly integrated school, lives alone with his unstable mother, Kate.

The Fair Housing Act results in the unthinkable for the Crowleys when a Black family, headed by the eminent Dr. Washington, crosses the racial red line and moves in right next door. TJ’s mother panics and makes a desperate call to Ray, a former boyfriend, who’s released from prison just in time to take care of the “problem next door.”

Tensions escalate as the Crowleys build a fence at their property line and TJ’s mom declares “them” off-limits. But at school, TJ is getting to know his new classmate, Ivy, the girl next door. And when TJ eavesdrops from afar, the Negro spirituals her father plays in his converted garage, piques his curiosity.

Following a series of dramatic events, TJ decides to accept the doctor’s invitation and crosses the forbidden line to visit his neighbors. When poor behavior and bad grades ruin TJ’s chances to play football and basketball, track and field is his only chance for redemption at school. A former athlete, the doctor prescribes the shot put, teaching TJ to launch the iron ball in secret sessions behind the fence. Meanwhile, local hate crimes trace back to Ray and detectives lean on TJ to help capture the criminal in his own home.

In this gripping audio drama, circumstances beyond TJ’s control force him to decide who he is, what he believes, and on which side of the fence he chooses to belong.

Dani Martineck’s explosive portrayal of the vulnerable TJ and Dion Graham’s performance as the soulful Dr. Washington lead this stunning production of award-winning actors, including Tavia Gilbert as Kate, Shayna Small as Ivy, Johnny Heller as Ray, and Sheila Brown Kinnard as Mrs. Washington, a role inspired by her activist mother, Josephine Brown.

Sound effects and music from the acclaimed ARISE Ensemble bring authenticity to the listening experience; and, Grant Overstake, a former Miami Herald Sports writer, adds excitement to tense moments in the bleachers and on the field.