Joseph Phillips Jr. portrays teenaged Greg Mathis in filmed reenactments for “Don’t Judge Me,” which stars Judge Greg Mathis on stage. The world premiere of the film and stage play runs from Nov. 10 to 12 at John Ruffin’s Theater 47 in Park Forest. Judge Greg Mathis may be known for presiding over televised trials but some viewers may not know that his journey to arbitrating cases began when he was jailed. He shares that story in “Don’t Judge Me,” a film and stage play world premiering Nov.
“Don’t Judge Me” marks Mathis’ first collaboration with director, producer and writer Angela Dunlap of Faith Entertainment Media LLC. “The state bar ethics committee denied my law license for two years after passing the bar, holding my record as a street youth against me. That committee gave me a hard time and asked me about every single allegation that had been made against me as a kid and I had to explain,” he said. “What you see in is a committee asking me about my life. You see that on film.