This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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In Search of Giants
IDrama, Song and the Spoken Word)
written and directed by Dr. Von H. Washington, Sr.
Tickets: $25/$20 cash only at the door- Limited general seating (this intimate theatre seats 100)
Well-known Toronto-based mezzo-soprano and performer, Ali Garrison and her highly esteemed colleague, Dr. Von H. Washington, Sr. (American theatre professional for forty years) bring their latest and much anticipated theatre project, In Search of Giants, to showcase at the Annex Theatre in the Randolph Centre for the Arts located in the heart of Toronto’s flourishing Annex neighborhood (Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th, 2016).
This production, about a personal journey leading to the discovery of three significant leaders on the Underground Railroad, has been playing to full houses and standing ovations since it began touring Michigan in November 2015. This two night run in Toronto showcases this unique play and history to garner interest and support for its further development in Canada. It is a staged dramatic reading in the traditional style of the Afrikan griot, but uses more than one storyteller. It features modern day griot, Dr. Von H. Washington Sr. with Ali Garrison, Von Washington, Jr., Michael Ray Helms, Romeo Phillips and Canadian actors, Alicia Payne and Duff MacDonald. Toronto musician, Darryl Huggins will also be adding his voice to the mix.
Ali Garrison, who in this production sings and plays both herself and her own great, great, great grandmother, shares these thoughts: “In Search of Giants is a powerful and moving piece about how when we explore the past, we understand ourselves better, which inspires a more informed future. I have spent the last year researching and digging deep into my own Abolitionist ancestral roots to find various narratives from different perspectives that serve as a basis for our work together. Dr. Washington has influenced my own artistic development greatly and it is my pride and pleasure to bring him and the cast to “The Promised Land” to share our creative discoveries with Canadian audiences.”
The Synopsis
In a perpetual search for information about his ancestral past, a local college professor makes several unannounced visits to the Underground Railroad Museum in Schoolcraft, Michigan. His first visit, revealing and mysterious, brings him closer to understanding the struggles of the conductor of the house, Dr. Nathan Thomas, a Quaker by birthright. In an unrelated meeting, the Professor comes into contact with a descendant of the Thomas family and learns more about Dr. Thomas’ wife, Pamela, and the Freedom Seeker and fellow Abolitionist, Henry Bibb, who visited the Thomas house in 1844 and went on to settle in Canada. Doc also learns about a conjuring technique and a narrative story that was written by Bibb himself before his death in 1854. During a second visit to the museum, the professor goes to the room where hundreds of enslaved ancestors were hidden while waiting to go on to freedom; and there, to his surprise, he successfully conjures the spirits of Henry Bibb and others who join in to aid him in telling their stories of running toward freedom on the Underground Railroad.
For more information and bookings in Canada contact Ali via her website www.aligarrison.com
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