Tony Camm has been trying to bring a production of “A Soldier’s Play” to Lynchburg for years.

His first introduction to it was in 2005, when Dance Theatre of Lynchburg Artistic Director Keith Lee recruited him to act in their production, which eventually fell through.

The idea came up again last year but, once again, didn’t work out.

So when the board members for the Black Theatre Ensemble started talking about ideas to mark the group’s 10th anniversary, the timing seemed perfect to tackle Charles Fuller’s play.

“You know,” Camm says, “the third time’s a charm.”

He’ll be directing the play and starring as Sgt. Vernon Waters, a black soldier who is murdered outside of a Louisiana military base in 1944, during World War II.

“The initial thought is that the Klan did it,” Camm says. “Then it comes to a surprising ending, and you’ll never guess who did it.

“It’s part courtroom drama and part murder mystery.”

Captain Richard Davenport, a rare black officer during the time period, is sent to investigate the murder, and Camm’s character pops up in flashbacks as Davenport interviews the soldiers.

The flashbacks show an ugly side of his character.

“They show me really degrading the guys. So, in the end, when I get killed, you don’t really feel that bad for me.”

Camm says the play sheds light on the issue of race within the black community; his character is a light-skinned black man who hated other black men who conformed to old-fashioned racist stereotypes.

“The sergeant has a seething disdain for his fellow black soldiers because he feels they’re not representing the race properly,” he says. “He wants them to be better.

“A lot of the dialogue and themes could be present day.”

Cast member Ron Banks spent 20 years in the Army and says the process has been eye-opening.

“Hearing about what the military used to be, how black soldiers were treated and how they treated each other sometimes, and then spending 20 years seeing how it evolved is interesting,” he says.

There are no female roles in the play, and Camm says he and the other actors have bonded during rehearsals.

“It’s been a lot of fun, the journey of getting together with a group of guys and not doing sports. Doing theater.”

Camm and the cast joke around constantly and have taken to texting each other dialogue throughout the day.

“We quote a lot of lines through text messages,” says co-star Joey Chatten. “It helps us learn our lines.”

Banks, tackling his first acting role, says he’s feeling the pressure.

“It’s a brotherhood,” he says. “You don’t want to be the one that messes up.”

Camm says the production has mature themes, with language and violence, so they recommend it for older audiences.

Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. Feb. 4 and 5 and 3 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Academy of Fine Arts’ Warehouse Theatre; tickets are $10 for general admission and $7.50 for veterans. Call (434) 846-TIXX.

Cast members will also be on hand at noon Feb. 5 at the Legacy Museum of African American History’s Activity Center (415 Monroe St.) to discuss the production; they’ll also perform age-appropriate scenes.

The play is just one of many events going on throughout February to mark Black History Month.

Later in the month, Randolph College will mark the 50th anniversary of the first sit-in in Lynchburg with a panel discussion, “Civil Rights: A Work in Progress,” at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Smith Memorial Building.

The sit-in has special meaning to the college because two of their students were involved in it.

In 1960, two Randolph students joined with two other white students from Lynchburg College and two black students from the Virginia Theological Seminary to convince the owner of Patterson’s Drug Store to integrate his lunch counter. When he refused, the students held the city’s first sit-in, which resulted in all of them serving 30-day jail sentences. Panelists include some of those students, as well as one of the college’s first black graduates.

After the panel discussion, poet and Virginia Tech professor Nikki Giovanni will give the event’s keynote address, “Activism and Civil Rights Today,” at 7:30 p.m. in Houston Memorial Chapel.