Event

Free Man Of Color

Free Man Of Color by Charles Smith

Recipient of the 2004 Jeff Award for Best New Work, Free Man of Color is the story of John Newton Templeton, an ex-slave who was unexpectedly freed after his masters death, attended Ohio University and graduated in 1828, thirty-five years before the end of slavery. In this play about race, culture, and the differences between education and assimilation in America,Presbyterian minister Robert Wilson, an avowed abolitionist and president of then fledging Ohio University, is forced to reevaluate his abolitionist views and Templeton is forced to examine the reason he was chosen to be the first.

Free Man of Color was commissioned by Ohio University in commemoration of its Bicentennial Celebration. It received its world premiere production at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago in January 2004. In March of 2004, that production was moved to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, to commemorate Ohio Universitys Bicentennial.

Chicago Tribune

"...bold and striking new work Charles Smith an independent, strong-minded writer able to draw audiences into their stories, but then refuses to retreat from unsentimental resolutions."

ChicagoCritic.com

"Free Man of Color by Charles Smith.Brilliant theatre reaches us through the magic of the live stage to get us thinking about who we are by showing us who we were and where we came from. The issues of 1824 Ohio are still relevant in the American of 2004"