Oak Park Festival Theatre-“Nat Turner in Jerusalem" March 27 only

Oak Park Festival Theatre opens 2021 Season with a virtual performance of “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” by Nathan Alan Davis, directed by Mignon McPherson Stewart 7 p.m., Saturday, March 27.

In August 1831, Nat Turner led a slave uprising that shook the conscience of the nation. Turner's startling account of his prophecy and the insurrection was recorded and published by attorney Thomas R. Gray. This play imagines Turner's final night in a jail cell in Jerusalem, Virginia, as he is revisited by Gray and they come to terms with what has passed, and what the dawn will bring.

The play was hailed as “compelling” by the Boston Globe. Directed by Mignon McPherson Stewart and featuring Christopher Wayland as Nat Turner and Matt Gall as Thomas Gray, this play explores the influence of the resolute doctrines of a person and their seismic reverberations over time.

Nathan Alan Davis' plays include: "The High Ground," "Nat Turner in Jerusalem" (New York Theatre Workshop; Stavis Playwright Award), "Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea" (NNPN Rolling World Premiere; Steinberg/ATCA New Play Citation) and "The Wind and the Breeze" (Cygnet Theatre; Lorraine Hansberry Award). He received a Whiting Award in Drama in 2018. Davis is a Lecturer in Theater and Berlind Playwright-in-Residence at Princeton University. He is a graduate of Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program with an MFA from Indiana University and a BFA from the University of Illinois.

Mignon McPherson Stewart is theater artist, based in Chicago. She is interested is in plays that bring voices to the theater that are seldom heard – in particular work that explores contemporary lives of African Americans, and experiment with the art form incorporating “magical” or “spiritual” elements, media, dance – whatever is needed to tell the story. Honors include Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Directing Fellow (2003) and five-time nominee for Best Director s from the BTAA (Black Theatre Alliance). Recent projects include "Breath, Boom" by Kia Corthron with Eclipse Theatre Company; Marsha Estelle’s “Dandelions” in Collaboraction’s Peacebook Festival, "Heart Knows" at Chicago DanzTheatre, “Crooner” for Black Lives/Black Words and “Night Vision” by Dominique Morisseau and “Dressing” by Mona Mansur and Tala Manassah for the Goodman Theatre’s presentation of "Facing Our Truth: Ten Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege." Stewart holds BA in Theatre from Loyola University and am MFA in Directing/Dramaturgy from Roosevelt University.

Oak Park Festival Theatre presents “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” by Nathan Alan Davis, directed by Mignon McPherson Stewart 7 p.m., Saturday, March 27. Tickets are: $15. A brief Q&A follows the performance. For tickets, visit oakparkfestival.com.

Oak Park Festival Theatre is Oak Park’s premiere Equity theater, and the oldest professional outdoor classical theater in the Midwest. Throughout its history, Oak Park Festival Theatre has presented more than 100 plays, enjoyed by more than 5,000 audience members annually. For more information about Oak Park Festival Theatre visit oakparkfestival.com.