In Feb. 1, 1960, four African American students from NC A&T University sat down at the Woolworth’s lunch counter and politely ordered coffee. They were refused service, and remained in their seats until the store closed. What ultimately led to Woolworth’s desegregation in July of the same year is a powerful story of community, faith, and determination. Triad Stage’s production of North Star tells this story, poignantly narrated by Relia, an adult remembering her experience and struggling to help her own daughter come to terms with race.

Set in a small North Carolina town, the play reflects on the sit-in movement that started in Greensboro, ultimately prompting dozens of other towns to follow. The story pivots from the modern-day Relia to the 12-year old Relia in the summer of 1960.

Young Relia, played by sixth-grader Sequoia Forrest, desperately wants to participate in the movement. Her parents are already involved, organizing with the community and church. While Relia’s mother disapproves of her daughter’s involvement in potentially dangerous actions, her father is proud of his child’s desire to fight for freedom.

Young Relia spends her summer nights outside with her father, played by Miller Lucky, Jr., memorizing the constellations. Only when she can close her eyes and see the cosmological map will she be able to find her way in the world.

The North Star, the star that guided Harriet Tubman along the Underground Railroad, represents the “beacon of spiritual light that has the ability to guide our hearts and minds through the storms of life,” said director Kaia Calhoun in the playbill.

For Relia, freedom means not having to mop floors to gain access to the white library, a literary heaven with paintings on the walls and a globe the size of her kitchen. Her best friend Willie Joe, played by Ronald V. Long, Jr., wants the same freedom but has trouble containing the hate that fuels him.

Willie Joe fears following the same path that led his uncle to a rope on a tree limb, one of hatred and violence. He must learn that freedom comes with the price of having a glass of water thrown in his face, men spitting on him and calling him names no child should hear.

Neither the child nor the older Relia, reflecting on that decisive summer years ago, truly comprehend what their actions meant for freedom on a larger scale. The sit-ins did not happen in a single day. They took months of careful planning in homes and church basements, and involved students, preachers, and mothers cooking food for the protesters on the sidelines. At one point Relia asks her mom, “Don’t you think it’s silly that we’re cooking food for people sitting at a lunch counter?”

The audience can feel this strong pull of community, almost to the point that a shout of “Amen!” has to be resisted during the church scene. Spirituality and song are an important source of inspiration for the freedom movement and in the play as well. The entire cast is vocally talented, and the play is worth seeing for no other reason than to hear the powerful spirituals that drive the community’s faith.

Triad Stage’s setup may partially explain the audience’s feeling of interaction with the characters; the three-sided stage juts into the small auditorium, making spectators feel like they are eavesdropping on an intimate conversation. The setting itself, a front porch and house sided with screen so that the audience can peek inside, makes the audience feel right at home.

North Star is a perfect way to celebrate Black History Month and to learn more about Greensboro’s civil rights history. “Shedding ‘light’ on cultural and racial differences is no less a priority than it was 45 years ago as we continue to evolve as a pluralistic, multi-racial, culturally diverse society,” said Calhoun.