Okieriete Onaodowan, Sojourner Brown & More to Star in THIS GHOST OF SLAVERY at Wesleyan

Anna Deavere Smith, the Center for the Arts artist in residence for 2024–2025, will present the first public staged reading of This Ghost of Slavery: A Play of Past and Present, co-produced with Long Wharf Theatre. 

The reading will feature Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Wire, The Deuce), Wynn Harmon (Live from Lincoln Center, Law & Order: SVU, Madam Secretary), Kai Heath (Great Performances, Law & Order, Much Ado About Nothing at The Public Theater), Ken Marks (The Wackness, Henry’s Crime, Side Effects), Jay O. Sanders (Kiss the Girls, The Day After Tomorrow, Edge of Darkness), and Godfrey Simmons, Jr. (Third Watch, Law & Order, Katrina).

The cast will also feature Oak Onaodowan, known for originating the roles of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in Hamilton; Sojourner Brown, currently appearing in Hadestown; and Arjun Gupta, who previously starred in Nurse Jackie alongside Smith. Additional cast members include Sharaé Moultrie (Girl From the North Country national tour) and Steve Routman (Killers of the Flower Moon), and Jolie Cloutier, previously in Long Wharf Theatre’s staged reading of Flying Bird's Diary. The cast will also feature Wesleyan University's Associate Professor of Theater, African American Studies, and English Rashida McMahon, as well as students Connor Wrubel ’25 (a Film Studies and Theater major) and Raimi Bagwell ’26 (an African American Studies major).

The staged reading will be directed by Aneesha Kudtarkar. The event will take place on Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 3pm at Crowell Concert Hall.

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