Harriet Jacobs, a triumphant, true story about a young slave's journey through and out of slavery. is in rehearsal at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. The play, written by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Jessica Thebus, is adapted from Jacobs' book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, originally published in 1861 and considered to be one of the most important slave narratives of the Abolitionist Movement.
As a young woman in North Carolina, Jacobs hid in a tiny garret for nearly seven years, until she was able to escape to freedom. Although she was a prominent abolitionist activist during much of her life, Jacobs was virtually unknown at the time of her death in 1897.
Diamond is the recipient of multiple awards from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Black Theatre Alliance,
Joseph Jefferson Awards, and, earlier this year,
Harriet Jacobs was nominated for the 2010
Elliot Norton Award for Best Play. Her impressive body of work includes Stick Fly, Voyeurs de Venus, The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse and Lizzie Stanton. Diamond has been commissioned to create new works for
Steppenwolf Theatre,
McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville/Victory Gardens and
Roundabout Theatre Company. She has also been Playwright in Residence at
Steppenwolf Theatre, and is currently Resident Playwright at
Chicago Dramatists and on the faculty of Boston University.
Thebus is an Associate Artist at Chicago's
Steppenwolf Theatre. She has directed productions at many Chicago theatres including Intimate Apparel, When the Messenger is Hot-also at 59E59 in New York (Steppenwolf); Our Town (Lookingglass Theatre); The Clean House (
Goodman Theatre); Eurydice (Victory Gardens) and The Turn of the Screw (Writers' Theatre). Thebus is a longtime collaborator with Kansas City Rep's artistic director
Eric Rosen, having directed Pulp (Jefferson Award nomination-Best Director, After Dark Award-Best Production), Winesburg, Ohio (Jeff nomination-Best Director, After Dark Award-Best Director) and Seven Moves at Chicago's
About Face Theatre, of which Rosen is the former artistic director.
The cast of
Harriet Jacobs includes: Damron Russel Armstrong as Daniel/Ensemble (A Raisin in the Sun, directed by
Lou Bellamy-KC Rep; The Cradle Will Rock-Theatre 1010, NY); Phillip
James Brannon as Tom/Ensemble (The Brother Sister Plays-Steppenwolf; The Ballad of Emmett Till-Goodman);
Gilbert Glenn Brown as Samuel Treadwell Sawyer/Joshua/Ensemble (
Paula Vogel's Civil War Christmas-Huntington Theatre);
Cheryl Lynn Bruce as Grandma (Joe Turner's Come and Gone, directed by
Marion McClinton-KC Rep; world premiere of
Studs Terkel's Race-Lookingglass);
Shamika Cotton as Mary/Ensemble (
Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology-KC Rep; Missives-59E59; Ain't Supposed to Die-Classical Theatre of Harlem);
David Fonteno as Harold/Master Norcom/Ensemble (Hapgood, Distant Fires, Christopher Columbus, Stuff Happens-New York); Nambi Kelley as
Harriet Jacobs (The Good Negro, The Ballad of Emmett Till-Goodman; Nikki Giovanni: New Songs for a New Day-Steppenwolf);
Ronica Reddick as Mistress Norcom/Ensemble (Tina Girlstar-NY Stage and Film; The Bluest Eye-Long Wharf, Hartford Stage).
The creative team for
Harriet Jacobs includes Chicago-based designers
Collette Pollard (Set Design, The Glass Menagerie-KC Rep); Jeremy W. Floyd (Costume Design); J.R. Lederle (Lighting Design);
Andre Pluess (Composer/Sound Design, The Arabian Nights, Metamorphoses-KC Rep); and Kansas City artists Jeffrey Cady (Projection Design, Saved, Give 'Em Hell Harry, Palomino, The Glass Menagerie-KC Rep) and Tyrone Aiken (Movement Director, who is also executive director of Kansas City Friends of
Alvin Ailey).
Harriet Jacobs runs October 22-November 21 (preview week is October 22-28) at Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Copaken Stage, One H&R Block Way (13th & Walnut), Kansas City, Missouri. Tickets are $20-$60. Please contact the Rep Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.KCRep.org for information about performance times and ticket options.
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