National Parks Service and Plays In Place Will Collaborate on Historic Three Play Cycle

 Plays in Place, in collaboration with the National Parks of Boston, has announced “Suffrage in Black and White” a three-play series exploring the intersection of race and citizenship throughout the abolitionist and suffrage movements in Boston. This unique collaboration marks the first time the National Parks of Boston has invested in such an ambitious theatrical endeavor, using the performing arts to activate spaces in ways that enable the public to connect the past to contemporary issues. The first play in the series, A Light Under the Dome begins performances at the Massachusetts State House Senate Chamber (24 Beacon Street, Boston) from August 12-15, 2024, with performances at 3:00 PM and 6:30 PM daily. Tickets are free and now available.

In 2020, the National Parks of Boston (NPB) and Massachusetts-based theater company Plays in Place began collaborating to develop three site-specific plays to explore the intersections of abolition, race, and women's suffrage. In the project's initial phase, National Parks of Boston public historians and digital humanists shared content expertise on leading figures and transformative moments in Boston's abolition and suffrage movements. Through discussions and resource-sharing, artists and public history professionals chose the historical moments and locations for these plays. As artists brought to life these stories of the past through NPS-funded script-writing and public readings, park staff continued to play a key role in advising and sharing feedback on the historical and thematic elements of the plays.

The first play, A Light Under the Dome, written by Plays in Place Producing Artistic Director Patrick Gabridge and directed by Courtney O'Connor, focuses on Angelina Grimké 's historic 1838 speech advocating for abolition and women's rights. A New Era, by Miranda ADEkoje and directed by Summer L. Williams, is set during the First National Conference of Colored Women, highlighting the strategic discussions of seven women led by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin. The third play, Nothing But Victory!, by Ginger Lazarus and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, depicts Massachusetts suffragists regrouping after the 1915 defeat of a women's suffrage amendment.

“The National Park Service specializes in using the power of place to explore the nation's stories,” said Liza Stearns, NPB's Director of Visitor Engagement, Education & the Arts. “As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, rigorously researched and creatively produced performing arts projects like this shine a light on the many and diverse people who have claimed their role as active citizens in shaping the country's vision for equal rights and representation.” 

The first play in the three-part series, A Light Under the Dome, is set to be performed in front of a live audience in the Massachusetts State House Senate Chamber August 12 - 15.  This play dramatizes the pivotal moment on February 21, 1838, when Angelina Grimké, an exiled Southerner, became the first American woman to address a legislative body. Her stirring speech on abolition also boldly affirmed the full citizenship of American women. Supporting her are fellow abolitionists Maria Weston Chapman, Lydia Maria Child, Susan Paul, and Julia Williams, who share their stories of struggle and resilience.

According to playwright/producer Patrick Gabridge, “Angelina Grimké's speech is a very public assertion of women's citizenship a full 10 years before the Seneca Falls Convention. The courage of these five women still stuns me. To perform this play under the dome of the State House where Angelina gave this speech is an incredible opportunity–this is a moment and people who are often overlooked. These vibrant young women are far removed from dusty sepia-toned images we often have of abolitionists.”

This production marks the continuation of a longtime collaboration between Gabridge and director Courtney O'Connor. Their first site-specific historical play, Blood on the Snow, at Boston's Old State House was a runaway hit in 2016 and 2017 and led to the formation of Plays in Place. They later collaborated on two series of one-act plays, The Nature Plays and The America Plays, at Mount Auburn Cemetery in 2019. O'Connor is now Producing Artistic Director of The Lyric Stage Company of Boston and has won numerous awards for her work. The Lyric Stage has provided critical in-kind support and fiscal sponsorship for Plays in Place's work on this project.    

The cast of A Light Under the Dome features Thomika Marie Bridwell (The Huntington's Joy and Pandemic; Front Porch Arts Collective and The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Front Porch Arts Collective: Chicken and Biscuits), Bridgette Hayes (SpeakEasy Stage Company's Men on Boats; Greater Boston Stage Company's Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol; Company One/Arts Emerson's, An Octoroon); Elliot Norton Award-winner Amanda Collins (Merrimack Rep's Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley), Marge Dunn (Lyric Stage Company's Murder on the Orient Express; New Repertory Theatre's  Hair, Cardboard Piano) and Regine Vital (Actors' Shakespeare Project's As You Like It, Seven Guitars). All were involved in previous readings and workshops in the Senate Chamber.