WRITTEN BY PHILLIS | A WORLD PREMIERE
MAY 10 - JUN 4 2023
Written by Phillis is a world-premiere, original play that brings to life the remarkable history of Phillis Wheatley, enslaved American and beloved poet. After Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in London in 1773, she became “the most famous woman of African descent in the World,” admired by Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and King George III, among countless others. Conceived and created as part of our collaboration with Chicago’s New Classics Collective—Paul Oakley Stovall (Artistic Director/Playwright), Marilyn Campbell-Lowe (Playwright), and Cheryl Lynn Bruce (Director)—this new biographical dramatization puts Wheatley's poetry front and center, reconsiders her important role in America's founding and ideals, and celebrates her life and legacy, one that inspired an African-American literary tradition that has lasted over two and a half centuries.
CAST
David Mitchum Brown*
John Wheatley / Rev. Moorhead / Archibald Bell
Phillip Brown*
Ignatius Sancho / Scipio Moorhead
Joshua Kachnycz
Nathaniel Wheatley / Hutchinson / Aide
Carolyn Nelson
Susanna Wheatley
Kira Player*
Grad Student / Obour Tanner / Anne Osborne
Asia Rogers*
Phillis Wheatley
William Zielinski*
Judge / George Washington
CREATIVE
Director
Cheryl Lynn Bruce
Stage Manager
John "JP" Pollard
Assistant Stage Manager
Gregory Pernicone Jr.
Lighting Designer
David Sexton
Set Designer
Brian Sidney Bembridge
Costume Designer
Anna Sorrentino
Sound Designer
Tom Carmen
Projections Designer
Brittany Bland
EVENTS
THE LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA
Phillis Wheatley & Friends | Celebrating 250 years of Wheatley’s Poetry
Phillis Wheatley is often fixed in time as a lone, singular voice. This course will introduce students to another story for the young poet and, by implication, a new story for early African American writing. What if Wheatley is not by herself, but is instead an active interlocutor, friend, writer, and lover in various communities throughout New England, England, and elsewhere? These communities buy Wheatley’s book, live through a war, and later have to mourn the loss of their friend. They are communities, too, that write, read, and leave behind a legacy in manuscript and in print. The aim of the class is to ask new questions and to situate this writing amidst old, new, and different ways of reading and to center the living of Black women and men in the latter half of the eighteenth century.
Schedule for Phillis Wheatley and Friends
Wednesday, April 12th | 6:00-7:30pm ET
Wednesday, April 19th | 6:00-7:30pm ET
Wednesday, April 26th | 6:00-7:30pm ET
Save $25 with Promo Code: QUINTESSENCE
THE ROSENBACH MUSEUM
The Rosenbach Museum has made original copies of Phillis Wheatley’s work available to the public to view.
Quintessence will be rehearsing at The Rosenbach on Sunday April 30th from 3pm to 4pm. Stop by and check it out!
THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
A searing rebuke of slavery and a soaring defense of human equality, a 1774 newspaper printing of a letter written by African American poet Phillis Wheatley is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of the American Revolution.
Quintessence will be at the Museum on 4/15, 4/22, & 4/29 for a variety of events surrounding Written by Phillis.
Tickets
