Revolution’s Edge tickets are on sale now!

Great news! Tickets for our newest play, Revolution’s Edge, are now on sale from Old North Illuminated/Old North Church. We open June 15, but it’s never too early to get your seats.

(We love the great preview video that Old North put together!)

The play takes place on April 18, 1775–the day before the Battle of Lexington & Concord–and centers on the the interaction between Loyalist Minister Mather Byles Jr., Cato who is enslaved by Byles, and ship’s captain John Pulling, who is a vestryman of the Anglican Christ Church as well as an ardent Patriot. Byles has just resigned his position, and Pulling is about to hang signal lanterns in the steeple that night to alert the rebels. On the brink of war, these three fathers search for information to help navigate the treacherous times unfolding around them.

The performance is approximately 45 minutes. Seating for the play starts at 5pm, and the show begins promptly at 5:20pm. Ticket holders are welcome to come before 5pm to enjoy a complimentary self-guided tour of Old North Church’s sanctuary.

$20 – Adults
$10 – Under 18 years old 
Recommended for ages 12 and up 

Revolution’s Edge coming to Old North Church in June

We have a big project coming to Boston very soon! Patrick has written a new play, Revolution’s Edge, commissioned by Old North Illuminated, to be staged at the historic Old North Church.

Plays in Place at NEMA, November 3-4

Jazzmin and Patrick will be manning a booth at the annual NEMA (New England Museum Association) conference in Springfield, November 3 and 4. If you’re attending, please be sure to stop by and say Hello.

Patrick has been to the NEMA conference multiple times as a speaker, but this is our first time getting a booth. We’re very much looking forward to sharing photos of our past production and talking to people about our projects, past and present.

(We will have chocolate. And copies of The Mount Auburn Plays book.)

So Many Updates

Final Weekend for I Am This Place

Busy Week Ahead

There’s lots happening with Plays in Place this week. On Friday, we start rehearsals for Moonlight Abolitionists at Mount Auburn Cemetery, and we open for performances coming up on September 20, 21, and 22, under the full moon. We’re desperately hoping for clear weather, but we’re fortunate to have a great indoor backup in Bigelow Chapel. All three shows sold out very fast–they went on sale on a Friday and by the following Monday all the tickets were gone.

We also start rehearsals this Sunday for I Am This Place, a new one-act play we commissioned (in partnership with Revolutionary Spaces) from Miranda ADEkoje, directed by Pascale Florestal, about Crispus Attucks and his African and Native American ancestors. This play will be staged at Old South Meeting House in October.

We also have a new office, where Patrick is desperately trying to get unpacked before heading back to Boston for the shows and rehearsals. We’re in a fantastic studio/office space in an old carriage barn built in the 1870s in Florence, MA, right near the site of a 19th century interracial, utopian community. (Photos to come.)

Moonlight Abolitionists tickets are on sale!

Plays in Place will return to live performances next month with Moonlight Abolitionists at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA, September 20-22, 8pm. This concert reading is a swirling conversation between six abolitionists buried at the Cemetery, designed to be performed outdoors, under the full moon. It’s an experience not to be missed.

Tickets have just gone on sale and seating is limited so they will go fast. You can get tickets here. Megan Sandberg-Zakian is directing a cast that includes Steven Barkhimer, Rachel Cognata, Amanda Collins, Alexander Platt, Damon Singletary, and Lewis D. Wheeler.

We’ve had such great experiences at Mount Auburn, so it’s a thrill to return with this play. Being in the Cemetery at night, under the full moon is a unique experience and the play makes the most of the power of the place and the history of these six people who fought so hard for freedom.

Imagining The Age of Phillis–8 new short films

We’ve just released our latest project—Imagining the Age of Phillis—and this one you can easily experience from the comfort of your own home. In partnership with Revolutionary Spaces, we’ve just produced eight short films based on poems and imagined letters from the astonishing and powerful book, The Age of Phillis, by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, directed by Boston filmmaker John ADEkoje.

You can view the films at the Revolutionary Spaces web site.

We filmed all the pieces at the Old State House and at Old South Meeting House in Boston, with a very talented cast of Cheryl Singleton, Tailinh Ogoyo, Brandon Green, Marc Pierre, Regine Vital, and Sabrina Victor.

We hope you’ll check out this exploration of history, race, language, and Phillis Wheatley Peters. The book is amazing, and John’s short films have risen to match it. (If you do enjoy them, please help spread the word via social media or any other venue—we’re eager for more people to see these pieces.)

Plays in Place will return to live performances this fall. Be sure to save the dates in your calendar to attend Moonlight Abolitionists at Mount Auburn Cemetery, September 20-22. This concert reading is a swirling conversation between six abolitionists buried at the Cemetery, designed to be performed outdoors, under the full moon. (We’ll let you know when tickets are available. Seating is limited and they will go very fast.) And also save room for I Am This Place, a new one-act play by Miranda ADEkoje about Crispus Attucks and his ancestors that we’ll produce at Old South Meeting House for 10 performances, October 15-24.

Thanks as always for your support of our company and our partners!

 

Suffrage in Black & White project intro and conversation

 

 

 

 

 

For the past year, we’ve been working with the National Park Service to create a series of three new site-specific plays. This week, we’ll gather all three of the playwrights for a conversation about our research and the sites. We’re still at the earliest phases of this project, but it’s a fun chance to look at the sprouts of what we hope will become a major production.

Here’s the official announcement:

Rooted in the abolitionist movement, the women’s suffrage movement in Boston provides a powerful lens to examine the intersection of race, gender, and politics in the city and beyond. In an innovative multi-phase project, the National Park Service and Revolutionary Spaces are working with Plays in Place to bring this history to life by creating three original site-specific plays.

Playwrights Patrick Gabridge, Miranda ADEkoje, and Ginger Lazarus have researched and conceptualized plays that will activate Boston’s historic spaces and dive into the connections between the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements in the city. Historical moments featured include: Angelina Grimke’s groundbreaking 1838 speech on abolition and women’s rights at the Massachusetts State House; Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin’s launching of the Black clubwomen’s movement in Beacon Hill in 1895; and the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association’s Faneuil Hall rally after the crushing defeat of the 1915 women’s suffrage state referendum.

Join the playwrights in conversation as they outline their initial concepts for these plays and invite you to offer your thoughts and feedback!

Ginger and Miranda are brilliant writers and good friends, and I’m grateful to be on this journey with them. Please join us to hear what we’ve been up to.

Here’s the link to register for this free webinar.

Thanks for your support! Stay tuned to some exciting projects coming up in June and this fall from Plays in Place and Revolutionary Spaces.