"With Slave Letters at MBS Productions, Mark-Brian Sonna beautifully uses simplicity to shine light on voices from a dark period in American History...
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Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions cracks a window open into slavery...The actors’ performances are believable, and stirring. Each actor delivers the text of different documents as monologues...All of the songs are sung a cappella and each voice is strong. This is not a musical. The actors deliver the songs as pitched monologues, offering a natural folk quality that is appropriate for this presentation...This is not a sad production, neither is it presumptuous. It is presented with simplicity and a heavy reliance that through the voices of the letters’ authors their humanity will shine through now as it could not with freedom when they lived."
-Janice Franklin, TheaterJones.com
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Slave Letters
Created & conceived by Mark-Brian Sonna
January 28 – February 14, 2016
During the slave era of the United States most slaves were illiterate, but some secretly learned how to read and write. Some of these letters have survived and chronicle the daily life of slavery. While many detail the terrible conditions of slavery, others express intense humanity. These letters of love, longing, hope, and the quest for freedom are at times uplifting, horrifying, and even humorous, giving a voice to those who were oppressed. The reading of these letters is interspersed with Negro Spirituals and Slave Songs from the era. This ground breaking production is the first in its kind for it gives a voice to the millions who were subjugated. World Premier.
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Starring:
Tony Key Hester Moore
La'Netia Taylor Natasha Wells
Bryan Blanks Kwame Lilly Gabrielle Rose
Staging and Musical Direction by Mark-Brian Sonna
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