In Emergency Beaty portrays a cast of over 40 characters who all respond to a stunning phenomenon: a slave ship rises out of the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty. Characters include individuals of different ages, economic backgrounds and sexual orientation including a homeless man, a TV reporter, a grandmother, a boy from the projects, a 'slavologist,' and a Republican business executive. Beaty artfully blends slam poetry, comedy, social consciousness and song to present a stirring, critically acclaimed commentary on modern black life.