The Bishop Arts Theater Center advertises the upcoming 1619 project that will be directed by Gabrielle Kurlander.
The Bishop Arts Theater Center will debut a series of one-act plays inspired by the 1619 project this February, a news release announced Monday.
The 1619 project is an award winning long-form journalism project by Nikole Hannah-Jones that explores the history of slaves in America, and was published in 2019 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to colonial Virginia, the first enslaved people to arrive in mainland Britain.
The Bishop Arts Theater Center commissioned nine playwrights to write 20 minute, one-act plays inspired by chapters of the book. Each play will be performed in succession to make for a full evening of theater.
“My intent is that this theatrical and creative production will be a step in the process of healing open wounds and will add to the long overdue public exploration ignited by the book which inspired the production,” Gabrielle Kurlander, a Dallas resident who is directing the festival, said in a statement.
Harvard professor Khalil Gibran Muhammed, who authored a chapter of the 1619 project, will serve as the festival’s dramaturg. A dramaturg acts as a sort of adviser to writers, directors and performers by providing research and interpretation to the production.
The production will run for three consecutive weekends from Feb. 9 until Feb. 26.
Tickets range in price from $18-30, and can be purchased in advance on the Bishop Arts Theater Center website.
