Southern Boys: Sons of Sharecroppers
Presented by Jubilee Theatre in Partnership with Performing Arts Fort Worth
July 29 - August 15, 2021, at Bass Performance Hall
You might be able to stop the dreamers, but no one can stop the dream; even in the deep trenches of the Mississippi Delta.
Southern Boys: Sons of Sharecroppers, is the highly acclaimed musical stage production, written by Kathy D. Harrison, directed by D. Wambui Richardson, with musical direction by Steven A. Taylor.
Harrison’s musical brings to life the beginning of America’s historic post-slavery era through the eyes of emancipated slaves and their free children, with all its jubilant excitement as well as its debilitating realities.
President Lincoln has signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The North has won the Civil War. Reconstruction has begun. Those freed are making their transition from slavery to freedom, ready to fulfill their new dreams and “make something of themselves.” Their first opportunities come - ironically - as sharecroppers on the very plantation where they were enslaved.
The brutal and demeaning conditions of sharecropping takes its toll on their aspirations to realize REAL freedom. Is going from slavery to sharecropping like going from the frying pan into the fire?
Hopes and dreams start to dissipate – except for 17-year-old Johnny. In spite of the increasing disillusionment felt by everyone around him, he dares to keep on dreaming. He hears the loud horn of a train approaching near the fields – heading north. Will he catch that train and jump on into a new, unknown world? If so, who, if anyone, will follow?
Southern Boys: Sons of Sharecroppers was nominated for Best Musical at the 2020 New York Theatre Festival. The production also received rave reviews at the North Carolina Black Repertory Company.
Enhanced health and safety protocols will be in place at Bass Hall, including the requirement of masks/face coverings. Click below to learn more.