Darker Face of the Earth, The

In this epic of myth, music and movement, we meet Augustus, a black man caught in the bonds of slavery. We know from the start that he will never get out of this struggle, but we’re mesmerized as this passionate, compelling retelling of the Oedipus story unfolds on a South Carolina plantation, circa 1840.

Augustus is the son of a black slave and his master’s wife. Sold off at birth, he returns twenty years later – but now his mother is running the plantation. The elements of the classic Oedipus tragedy are all in place, but it is Augustus’ fight for freedom that gives this story its shattering emotional power.

Playwright Rita Dove is a former Poet Laureate of the United States and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Join us for the first Guthrie performance of her work in this historic production.