DALLAS – – This month, Soul Rep Theatre Company, Dallas’ once celebrated professional African American theater company, will present a one weekend run of its reworked original production, The Freedmans at The Margo Jones Theater, in Fair Park. The play, directed by the esteemed Ed Smith (former Artistic Director of Jubilee Theater) and Soul Rep Theatre Company co-founder and Artistic Director, Guinea Bennett-Price, was first performed in 1998 to commemorate the opening of Dallas’ Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial and Soul Rep’s third season.
Written by members of Soul Rep’s Writing Consortium – Keith Price, nia akimbo, Chris Herod, and Anyika McMillan-Herod – “The Freedmans” is comprised of compelling, colorful, and chilling true and imagined stories of the people of Dallas’ Freedman’s Town community. It is an homage to Dallas’ rich Black history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of which has been paved over by freeways and politics.
“It’s less performance and more a ritual,” explains Guinea Bennett-Price of the production that will mark the company’s return to the Dallas stage after a ten year hiatus.
Oscar nominated actress Taraji P. Henson, is one of the company’s benefactors and is excited about the rebirth of Soul Rep and a resurgence of Theatre in the African American community. “The stage is where real acting happens. It’s where I got my start and where I hope to return,” says Ms. Henson.
“I’m excited to be involved in a piece that deals with Dallas history,” explains Ed Smith. “Soul Rep has much to offer our city through the craft of theater and in arts education.”
Ten years and ten children later, the original company members, all of whom have kept busy with building families and artistic lives outside of Soul Rep, are ready to come together to create great theater again. As company member, Keith Price, states, “this production is a gift to the past from the future.”
The Freedmans will run at The Margo Jones Theater in Fair Park Thursday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. (Preview Performance), Friday, Nov. 22 at 8 pm, Saturday, Nov. 23 at 8 pm and Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 for Thursday and Sunday’s performances & $20 for Friday and Saturday’s performances. Parking is FREE.
For more information, please visit www.soulreptheatre.com, email soulreptheatre@gmail.com.
