A world premiere play about the late Strom Thurmond facing Judgment Day has sparked buzz and criticism around the state.

The buzz about “Strom in Limbo” has been fueled by reviews in several papers, as well as in the Edgefield Advertiser, Thurmond’s hometown paper, which challenged the town in an editorial last week to put the play on.

“A life examined can give groundwork for finding our way. How much courage would this require? Is Edgefield willing?” said the editorial, written by publisher Suzanne Derrick.

She drove to Spartanburg to see the play, which ran for four performances at the University of South Carolina Upstate.

The play drew scattered phone calls and e-mails of criticism from people who heard it and objected, said USC Upstate officials. An estimated 1,000 people saw it, officials said.

“Most of the scathing criticism came from people who hadn’t seen the play,” said USC Upstate theater director Jimm Cox. “They just thought it was an attack on Thurmond, rather than being a balanced view of history that allowed you to make up your own mind.”

The theme of the play is whether Thurmond — one of the South’s leading advocates for denying civil rights to blacks — should enter heaven. Later in his political career, Thurmond became a racial moderate and supported black rights, but he never apologized for his earlier stands. The play is also about redemption and how much personal responsibility white Southerners bear for depriving blacks of their civil rights.

USC Upstate chancellor John Stockwell said controversy shouldn’t kill plays like “Strom in Limbo.”

“A university is not worthy of the name if it doesn’t honor academic freedom as a core fundamental value,” said Stockwell, who saw the play and said he enjoyed it.

The play will be performed in Conway in January.

Playwright David Zinman said he is exploring having it performed in other locales. Traditionally, plays start in smaller markets and, if successful, move to larger markets, usually undergoing revisions along the way.

Reviews of the play ranged from favorable to enthusiastic.

The Greenville News said it was a “solid performance.” The Metrobeat: Greenville, an Upstate weekly, called it “provocative, funny, outrageous, enlightening and poignant.”

Student reaction was overwhelmingly positive, said George Roberts, the USC Upstate professor who directed the play.

“It will certainly see other productions,” Roberts predicted. “Columbia would be an ideal place, it being the seat of power in the state.”

It may be a while, however, before Edgefield is ready for the play.

Despite her endorsement, Edgefield Advertiser publisher Derrick doesn’t foresee any effort to produce “Strom in Limbo” in Thurmond’s birthplace.

“I think the community is just willing to let it lie,” she said.