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Joel King Revisits "Real Life" In Return Of His St. Louis-Based Play

Playwright Joel P.E. King knows a thing or two about real life.

He was born in Washington Park, Illinois as the seventh of eleven children, and watched as his community transformed from one that thrived on family and fellowship to a place of crime and fear.

The negative experiences he was aware of both as a child and an adult served as an inspiration for his aptly – titled play "Real Life."

The coming of age story centers around a young man who is conflicted between becoming a negative product of his environment versus the future that awaits him if he were to leave.

Before his show begins its four-night run at the Grandel Theater, King, whose play made its first debut in St Louis in 2010, revisited the highs and lows of his own ‘real life’ with Erin Williams.

"Real Life" will run November 29 - December 2.  Click here for more information about the play.

Alex is the executive producer of "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.
Mary Edwards is a producer for St. Louis Public Radio's broadcast program, "St. Louis Symphony."