- Multiple DatesMon, Dec 04Marin Shakespeare CompanyDec 04, 2023, 7:00 PM – 9:30 PMMarin Shakespeare Company, 514 4th St, San Rafael, CA 94901, USA
fugitive/slave/act
Riot or Resistance? Rarely told, but familiar and true story of William Parker’s fight for freedom


Time & Location
Jan 30, 2022, 5:00 PM PST
Online Event
About the Play
fugitive/slave/act
written and directed Michael Gene Sullivan
A live ARC Stream
Based on a true story from the days leading up to the Civil War, the Actors’ Reading Collective (ARC)’s production of fugitive/slave/act tells the story of William Parker, the leader of a community of ex-slaves living free, Castner Hanway, his Mennonite neighbor, and Edward Gorsuch, the slaveowner pursuing his escaped "property". The three meet in Christiana, Pennsylvania in 1851, a year after the United States Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, which decreed that an escaped slave was no longer free simply by reaching a “Free State”.
So when a group of escaped slaves get wind that their former master is trying to re-capture them, they have a choice: run for Canada or do something no one had done before: stand and fight. They fought, and the bloody clash, known as the Battle of Christiana, almost started the Civil War a decade early. The results: a life altering pursuit of Parker, sensational treason trial for the neighbor who refused help the slave-catchers and a galvanized nation.
Cast:
Aldo Billingslea*^, Velina Brown*^, James Carpenter*^, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong*, Mike McShane*^, David Moore*^, Cathleen Riddley*, Michael Gene Sullivan*^, Colin Thomson*^, Aaron Wilton*^
* Member, Actors' Equity
^SAG Member
TICKETS
ARC Stream $100
This ticket includes the gratifying feeling of having greatly assisted the artists bringing you this show.
$100.00+$2.50 service feeARC Stream $50
$50.00+$1.25 service feeARC Stream $25
$25.00+$0.63 service feeARC Stream $15
$15.00+$0.38 service feeARC Stream $10
$10.00+$0.25 service feeARC Stream $5
$5.00+$0.13 service feeARC Stream $0
$0.00
Total
$0.00