Rebel Voices

Using the stage as a catalyst to promote and direct conversations about our nation’s future, Culture Project presents Rebel Voices, a stage adaptation by Rob Urbinati of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove’s acclaimed book Voices of a People’s History of the United States.

Culture Project stands with activist scholar Howard Zinn, asserting that the world is topsy-turvy and that things are all wrong. That the wrong people are in power and the wrong people are out of power, and that civil disobedience is not only necessary, but required. At a time when voices of dissent have been relegated to “free speech zones” and diminished in the mainstream media, Rebel Voices brings to life inspirational and challenging stories of protest from U.S. history – and today. The play seeks to combat hopelessness by igniting the forces responsible for arousing change and celebrating the indomitable human spirit.

Rebel Voices is an important testimony to the strength of the individual voice, as told through first-hand accounts from people who have shaped the course of U.S. history, often struggling against seemingly insurmountable odds. The Rebel Voices include Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X as well as lesser-known figures like Maria Stewart, a pioneer Black abolitionist from the early 1800s, Stella Nowicki, a union organizer in the 1930s, and contemporary voices such as Iraq war resister Camilo Mejía and Patricia Thompson, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina.

Performance poet Staceyann Chin and acclaimed musician Allison Moorer will lead the permanent cast of Rebel Voices, which also features a host of rotating special guest performers. Among those already confirmed to appear are Wallace Shawn, Lili Taylor, Ally Sheedy and David Strathairn.