What I liked
I loved the sincerity of the performer and the simplicity of the staging. The bold opening was WOAH and also necessary to get the visceral point across of what this time actually involved in a very inhumane/physical sense.And corking up? YES.
What I didn't like
Knowing that this is a test run, and this fab performer had to do everything himself, and it was his first time doing live storytelling (huzzah! Another Warrior of Indy Theater bravely emerges!)
1: It will help the story and performance to have both a frame and a thru-line. His is a complicated story that could benefit from a bit more focus/Guide The Audience if that makes sense.
2: It will benefit by expanding to 55 minutes
3: Perhaps less time spent on his childhood …trim some of the bits not as important as the big things about his childhood
4: I don’t think it was made clear that the 6-month walk started from Maryland. (I know his story, and I don’t remember it being clearly stated that he was first enslaved in Maryland. This matters because there’s a lot of “mapping” in the story as it stands now – Kentucky/Ohio/Mississippi/Canada – and as it stands now, I don’t think general audiences can truly follow it.)
5: Strongly urge to find a director. Which may be tough considering the needs of the story and the performer, but someone is out there who can take this on and help razor sharpen it.
6: Again emphasizing the need for a frame and a thru-line. I am impressed at how performer/writer/self-director Jeremiah Core did try to focus in on just the highlights in this first attempt, because one could easily drown in the whole of Henson’s story.
My overall impression
A deeply heartfelt overview of the enslaved man turned abolitionist rescuer whose true story of bravery and resilience has been lost to the minstrel fiction of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This is how history should be taught.
