6PM Reception

7PM Staged Reading: SWEET CHARIOT

8PM Post Show Discussion: Narratives, Spirituals, and Resistance

Join us for an inspirational evening beginning with a stage reading of Sweet Chariot by Virginia Repertory Company actors. Sweet Chariot shares the narratives of previously enslaved African Americans by combining dazzling a capella spirituals with oral histories as told and interpreted by the Federal Writers Project in the 1930’s. One of the many tools of resistance and rebellion to enslavement was through song, specifically spirituals. These spirituals helped generations to endure many atrocities and gave hope in the struggle for civil rights and social justice.

A post show discussion will follow stage reading featuring conversation with Assistant Professor of History, NC State University Ebony Jones and Folkorist and Singer Mary D. Williams.