Thursday, September 30, 2010

WHAT PRICE FREEDOM? A One-Man Play about Prosser's GABRIEL Free performances in Joseph Bryan Park Fridays, Oct 1st, 8th & 15th, 6:30pm

Bettye J. Thornton, Timothy L. Harris, Frank Thornton, and Derome Scott-Smith

WHAT PRICE FREEDOM?

A One-Man Play about
Prosser's GABRIEL

free performances
in Joseph Bryan Park

Fridays, Oct 1st, 8th & 15th, 6:30pm

In the late 1700s, Gabriel was a slave in Henrico County. During the summer of 1800, he and other leaders planned a slave uprising in Bryan Park, which was to capture Governor James Monroe, the City arsenal, and burn Rocketts Landing. Their plans were foiled by a rainstorm and untimely delay.

Later that Fall, Gabriel was captured and imprisoned. This monologue, written by Derome Scott-Smith, founder of Richmond’s African American Repertory Theater, recreates Gabriel's last days, meditates on his desire for freedom, his indignation at the injustice of slavery, the planning of his bold rebellion, and his thoughts about his impending execution.

Richmond actor Timothy L Harris (BigManBigVoice) brings Gabriel to life .

Performances will be outdoors beside the tennis courts near Picnic Shelter #1. Signs in the Park will direct visitors to parking. The public is advised to bring a blanket or chair to sit on. In case of inclement weather, performances will be postponed.

For more information, call 646-5733 or visit: wwwfriendsofbryanpark.org

These Productions generously supported by the

County of Henrico Board of Supervisors and the City of Richmond City Council.

Special thanks to Fairfield District Supervisor Frank Thornton,
City Councilman Chris Hilbert (3rd District) and
City Councilman Marty Jewell (5th District)

Resources on Slavery in Richmond, Virginia

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Contributors:

Ray Bonis:

Ray worked at VCU Libraries' James Branch Cabell Library from 1989 until 2021. He is the co-author of Virginia Commonwealth University (2006) and Greetings from Richmond (2009) - an architectural history of the city.

Selden Richardson:

Architectural historian and author of Built By Blacks: African American Architecture and Neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia (2006), The Tri-State Gang in Richmond: Murder and Robbery in the Great Depression. (2012), and Richmond Murder & Mayhem (2023)

On History:

"The dead were and are not. Their place knows them no more and is ours today...The poetry of history lies in the quasi-miraculous fact that once, on this earth, once, on this familiar spot of ground, walked other men and women, as actual as we are today, thinking their own thoughts, swayed by their own passions, but now all gone, one generation vanishing into another, gone as utterly as we ourselves shall shortly be gone, like ghosts at cockcrow."
-- G. M. Trevelyan (1876-1962) from his "Autobiography of an Historian," An Autobiography and Other Essays (1949).

Key Dates in Richmond History
(more to follow)

1737 – William Mayo laid out the original street plan for the town of Richmond on land provided by William Byrd II.

1742 – Chartered as a town

1780 – Virginia’s state capital moved from Williamsburg to Richmond.

1782 – Incorporated as a city.

1788 - Virginia State Capitol building completed.

1860-1865 – Serves as capital of the Confederate States of America.

1910 - Manchester, the city located just south of the James, is consolidated with Richmond.

1949 - Oliver Hill (1907-2007) elected to City Council, first African American since Reconstruction.

1968 - Virginia Commonwealth University created by the merger of the Medical College of Virginia and Richmond Professional Institute.

1977 - Henry Marsh elected as first African American mayor of Richmond.

2009 – Shockoe Examiner founded.