Against the Tide takes us back to the earliest days of Illinois College, when its first president, Edward Beecher, brought his young wife and family from the culture and refinement of Boston to the “wild frontier” of Illinois. Beecher finds himself taking a leadership position at the fore of a rising tide of abolitionist sentiment. Pushback and protests from slavery supporters become riots, ultimately leading to violence in this world-premiere play by local historian, Tara McClellan McAndrew.