The play’s the thing as Bates honors Black History Month – News

The play’s the thing as Bates honors Black History Month

"According to Mark: Part I: Blood in the Revolution." Commencing a series of plays marking Black History Month at Bates, this 10-minute reading is one of four looking at the 18th-century experiences of black New Englanders and written by Lecturer in Theater Clifford Odle. Sponsored by the Africana program. Commons, Fireplace LoungeThe title character in According to Mark “was a slave who could read and was looking for a way to free himself from an oppressive master. And he felt the Bible provided a path to murdering him as long as he didn’t spill blood.”The play is set during the planning of the murder, which also involved two other slaves, Mark’s sister Phyllis and a woman called Phoebe. In the actual event, Mark was hanged for the murder and Phyllis was burned at the stake — a punishment that in Colonial America was reserved for female slaves who kill their masters, Odle says.Cast: Charles Nero as MarkPerla Figuereo as PhyllisSam Alexander as PhoebeDawrin Silfa as Quaco

Using theater to convey history “makes things more immediate, more alive,” says a Bates playwright.