Day of Absence

The Classical Theatre of Harlem celebrates black history month with Douglas Turner Ward’s classic farce, Day of Absence. This reverse minstrel show–performed by black actors in white face–tells the story of the sudden disappearance of black citizens from a small southern town and the crumble of society on their day of absence. The result is so chaotic–garbage piling up, houses left not cleaned, meals uncooked–that the whites plead for the blacks to come back.