Douglass the Prophet

a work in process

Everything in my heart believed we would have reached equality by now.
How is it possible that the world I fought to change mirrors back in the world you’re in?

Documentarian and playwright June Cross brings Frederick Douglass back from the dead in this new play starring Keith David. Invoking the spirits of Othello, Julius Caesar and Duke Ellington; Douglass, reimagined as an eternal prophet, meets us exactly where we are – lost in the myopia of our current American tragedy. But perhaps he can interrupt fate and redirect our collective future so the past can finally cease repeating. With a live score by drummer Mike Clark and vocalist Kathryn Farmer, lighting by Alan C. Edwards, artwork by Sanford Biggers, dramaturgy by Sunder Ganglani, and directed by Charlotte Brathwaite – Douglass the Prophet is a poetic freedom dream that weaves story and history, while urging the audience to imagine a future beyond the ravages of our violent past.