There are several theater companies commemorating Juneteenth with special performances. Here are ways you can not only commemorate the federal holiday but also support local artists.
The Fire of Freedom
Theatre Raleigh is presenting a production of Howard L. Craft’s play The Fire of Freedom at its new arts center. Mike Wiley portrays freedom fighter Abraham Galloway in this one-man show. Each performance is followed by a talkback with Wiley. Hear what Wiley and Craft have to say about the production on this week’s podcast. For more information visit www.theatreraleigh.com.
Slave Narratives at Chavis Park
In recognizing the Juneteenth holiday, Raleigh Parks has partnered with MOJOAA Performing Arts Company to breathe life into the words of formerly enslaved people. For more information visit https://raleighnc.gov/events/slave-narratives-john-chavis-memorial-park.
A River Speaks of Thirst
To commemorate Juneteenth, The Justice Theater Project is presenting free showings of its film A River Speaks of Thirst, written by Piedmont Laureate Jaki Shelton Greene. This is a streaming production. For more information visit http://www.thejusticetheaterproject.org/.
Radio Golf
Director Jamal Farrar will join Beltline to Broadway’s Lauren Van Hemert Saturday at 4 PM (on Facebook) from Pure Life Theatre to discuss the significance of August Wilson’s play. For more information on the Pure Life Theatre production visit https://www.purelifetheatre.com/.
The Mountaintop
Raleigh Little Theatre closes its production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop Saturday evening at the Stephenson Amphitheatre. Here, according to Beltline to Broadway’s Denver Ellis, Martin Luther King Jr. is humanized as a person, not solely a monument, in an almost ethereal reimagination of MLK’s last night on Earth. For more information visit https://raleighlittletheatre.org/shows/the-mountaintop/.
For a complete listing of Triangle theater events, visit our Calendar Page. To learn more about the Juneteenth holiday, hear what former Dallas Cowboy Greg Ellis had to say to Beltline to Broadway last year during a live chat.