Patience of Nantucket

Robert Johnson’s Patience of Nantucket, which premiered to high critical acclaim in Boston, receives its Nantucket debut.

Based on true events, Patience of Nantucket is a dramatization of the tragic life of Patience Cooper, an African-American woman in nineteenth century Nantucket, who was wrongfully convicted of the killing of an elderly shopkeeper. During her trial she is railroaded in a racial witch hunt that shakes up, and tears apart the tiny island of Nantucket. Her turmoil is bonded by a secret love affair, and tensions between the Quakers and segregationists on the island. The play revives real characters from the period, including Rev. James Crawford, Pastor of the Pleasant Street Baptist Church that was located in the African Meeting House on Nantucket, now owned by Boston’s Museum of African-American History.

During its highly successful Boston run, where the play was viewed by sold out audiences, the Boston Globe called Patience of Nantucket "Masterful". The Boston Herald also applauded the play saying "Johnson’s script makes Patience so real, and though 150 years have passed, he’s worked in striking contemporary political parallels." Nick Dussault of the Boston Metro stated, "Director Akiba Abaka has assembled a stellar cast to breathe life into the tragic tale. Abaka keeps the emotions running high yet, thankfully, the characters never go overboard."