by Deanna Dement Myers
‘Nat Turner in Jerusalem’ – Written by Nathan Alan Davis. Directed by Benny Sato Ambush; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland Director; Costume Design by A.W. Nadine Grant,; Sound Design by Dewey Dellay; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Presented by the Actors Shakespeare Project in collaboration with Hibernian Hall, at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., Roxbury through February 24
“The uprisings will never cease until injustice ceases.”
In August 1831, thrice-sold Nat Turner, an educated preacher, led a two-day uprising of enslaved and free African American people that shook not only Jerusalem, Virginia, but our whole nation. Turner acted upon visions and signs from God, who called him to lead his people out of bondage. Approximately fifty white men, women and children were killed in the uprising, and the militia that retaliated murdered twice as many people of color, most who were not rebels. No white person was ever tried for their part in this horrific event. This insurrection lead to oppressive legislation designed to prohibit the education, movement and assembly of enslaved people. Turner was caught after two months on the run, tried, convicted and sentenced to hang until dead, dead, dead.
The audience walks into the Hibernian Hall to seats surrounding a dimly lit cell. A young man in chains sits quietly in one corner, transfixed by the last rays of light coming through the barred window. It is November 10, 1831, the last night before the execution of Nat Turner, played eloquently by Brandon Green, and he is watching the last sunset of his life. Light and darkness reveal important moments in the performance, almost like an unseen player.
Turner is visited by Thomas Gray, played by Lewis D. Wheeler, a gentleman lawyer and writer, who is there to get final details for his pamphlet, Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, VA. This actual publication was the basis for this play by Nathan Alan Davis. Gray wishes to copyright Turner’s confessions, as well as find out if there are any more uprisings planned for the future. What we know about Nat Turner’s uprising is mostly derived from Gray’s writing, which he claimed was verbatim, with minimum commentary. Gray had his reasons for publication, and the audience is left to decide how unbiased his motives really were. In any case, this book inflamed white hysteria in the South and may have been one of the factors leading to the Civil War.
Using poetic language that draws heavily from the Bible, the two men discuss the moral question of slavery, the intentions of God, and the ways people can be imprisoned by society and class in addition to shackles and iron bars. Gray is frustrated because Turner refuses to relinquish his conviction that he was justified in his actions, and that he will not implicate any other person of planning other rebellions. Turner is sometimes thought of as a Holy Fool following a religious fervor to vengeance; this Nat has agency over his actions that are not politically driven, but striving towards the long arch of justice. Their conversations are full of rich imagery and missed opportunity; each man has their own immediate needs that must be addressed before they can settle their differences.
A third character, the Guard, also played by Wheeler, interacts with Turner in a more familiar way. The Guard is disgusted by the violence of the uprising and can’t seem to reconcile the brutal acts with the gentle, insightful preacher in his care and keeping. Wrestling with these dichotomies, the jailer becomes a surrogate for the audience. Turner reveals his righteous response to injustice and forces the white characters in the play to examine how they contribute to the anti-abolitionist society, whether or not they are slave owners. As the Guard examines his own prejudices, so should we.
Having one actor play both the white men, it is clear that their social status is part of how they relate to Turner. Wheeler is able to embody two different characters so fully, it is hard to remember they are only two actors in the play, not three. Both men move towards enlightenment and understanding based on their external pressures of class and expectation.
Turner’s revolt still provokes conversations today that resonate in the current context of American history and politics. Indeed, I saw the play the same day that current governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, was found to have a picture in his medical school yearbook with one person in black face and another wearing the white-hood of the KKK. Slavery and racism are not historical relics; we still grapple with them. Domestic terrorism, which this uprising surely was, is deeply embedded in the fabric of our country and has never led towards dismantling hate. Plays like Nat Turner in Jerusalem help viewers explore how events from the past illuminate our present moment, and hopefully help us find the humanity in those with opposite viewpoints.
Take the time to
see this powerful and thought-provoking show produced by the Actors Shakespeare
Project in collaboration with Hibernian Hall. It runs now through February 24.
Tickets available at: www.actorsshakespeareproject.org
