The Day is Past & Gone: A Trilogy of Slave Life Returns to Poplar Forest
May 18, 2019 |
FOREST, VA: Teresa Harris’s original trilogy about slave life at Poplar Forest returns to Mr. Jefferson’s south lawn for one performance only on Saturday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. Harris, who also directs the production, explores the complex lives lived by the enslaved African Americans and their struggles to survive, in three vignettes—Phil Hubbard & Hanah: I am a Man; Hannah & Billy: The Talk; and, new for 2019, Edy and Amy: Suffer the Little Children. All are true stories, drawn from the real-life experiences of the enslaved men and women portrayed that have been documented in letters and archaeological evidence.
Phil Hubbard & Hanah: I am a Man is the story of a man who loves his wife. The year is 1815. Phil Hubbard is a valuable slave, valued by Jefferson as conscientious and skillful in working with mortar. He also sacrificed his evenings and Sundays (his one day off) digging out the sunken lawn on the south side of the villa for which Jefferson paid him a bit per cubic yard. When overseer Jeremiah Goodman attempts to interfere in his relationship with his wife, Hanah, Phil defends their honor. Featuring James Stewart as Phil, Alicia Crawley as Hanah and Chris Bailey as Jeremiah Goodman.
The story of Edy and Amy: Suffer the Little Children confronts the heartbreaking reality of infant mortality within the enslaved population. Edy and Amy are frantically seeking help for Edy’s sick baby. Both of the women had lost children due to the harsh conditions of enslavement, a fact that, sadly, is exacerbated by an illness that plagued the plantation in 1819. Edy has already lost 4 children and is desperate to keep death from claiming a fifth. Distrustful of the more mainstream, but crude, curative methods of the day, yet also skeptical of the mysterious and, to some degree, taboo rituals of African tradition, Edy is forced to make a decision that will either spare or take the life of her only remaining child. Featuring Janice Benejan as Amy and Victoria Williams as Edy.
In Hannah & Billy: The Talk, the audience sits in on a conversation between Hannah, Jefferson’s cook at Poplar Forest, and her son Billy. Billy is working in the tobacco fields on the plantation at Poplar Forest after being sent back from Monticello for being “Ungovernable and idle,” according to Jefferson. Although spared from being sold, he continues to push back on the system of enslavement. Hannah is at her wits end regarding what to do about her incorrigible son. Fearing he is headed for the auction block or worse, she tries to reason with him and encourage him to refrain from his rebellious ways. Featuring Delores Marshall as Hannah and Desmond Mosby as Billy.
Bring your friends and family—and a picnic dinner and a blanket or chairs—and experience a part of Poplar Forest history brought to life. Tickets to The Day is Past & Gone are $15 per person. Reservations are suggested. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit poplarforest.org or call the Museum Shop at 434.534.8120.
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Website:
poplarforest.org |
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| Location Information |
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Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest |
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Forest, VA |
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| Contact Information |
| Email:
press@poplarforest.org |
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