Theatre 51 brings real life to the stage in NOW TO ASHES
On July 13th at Friends Meeting Washington, and again on July 19th as part of the brand new District Fringe (both performances at 2pm), Theatre 51 brings vivid life to historical truth in a world premiere play, Now to Ashes, written by Sarah Pultz and Renae Erichsen.
The two authors joined me to talk a little about their impulse in creating this documentary-history-based play–the product of a decade of fascination (bordering on justifiable obsession) and research, and the result of many diligent hours of crafting and honing, winnowing and revising. In that time, they’ve unconvered voluminous quantities of rich, surprising detail but somehow also managed to trim more than an hour from the play’s running time!
What has emerged is a story of the intertwined herstories of four complicated, overlooked figures from the past, whose lives and work spanned almost a century, from the early stirrings of abolition and feminism in the 1830s through the Roaring Twenties but whose legacy lives on and resonates today.
Populating the play are: Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke (aka Sally and Nina in the play), a progressive pair of Southern heiresses-turned-activists; their niece, Angelina Ward Grimke—a queer, mixed-race poet of the 1920s; and Sarah Douglass, one of the Black leaders of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society.
Our conversation, with some of the tantalizing tidbits that will surely help bring this foursome to vivid life on stage, is here
And more informaton–including tickets, showtimes, venues, and more–is online here http://www.NowToAshes.com
