Shadow’s ‘Spirit’ Is Sure To Inspire
By John Kuebler

It had been a while since I’d been to church on Sunday. I avoid it whenever possible, preferring the coffee house or the park or, when I am able, the theater. But when I went to review the world premiere of Shadow Theatre Company’s The Spirit of Frederick Douglass on a crisp Sunday afternoon in November, I found myself, very unwittingly, at church. Turns out it was exactly what I needed.
The premiere, at The Newman Center for the Performing Arts, featured a collaboration of Shadow and The Spirituals Project in an innovative blend of choir music, spoken word, slide presentation and dramatic monologue. The effect was uplifting and inspiring.
Frederick Douglass was the original African-American statesman – a former slave whose ordeal authenticated him and whose intelligent ire made him difficult to ignore. With The Spirit of Frederick Douglass, local playwright Larry Bograd arranges a powerful selection of Douglass’s essays, letters, and lectures in a straightforward chronological way – just the way Douglass himself told his story.
Part one of the performance was “All-Spirituals Project,” which served as a prelude to the play. It consisted of nine well-arranged spirituals conducted by Bennie L. Williams and featuring outstanding solos, most notably by house favorite Kenneth Parks.
Fannie Scott’s piano accompaniment filled out the smooth harmony of the choir and Dee Galloway’s performance of her original poem “They Slice The Air” was a crowd pleaser. Her finale rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” brought the audience to its feet.
The heart of the production came in part two, The Spirit of Frederick Douglass. The choir, conducted by Arlen J. Hershberger, was screened behind magnified photographs of whip-scarred flesh, handbills advertising the sale of “corn, Negroes and other property,” and a multitude of other haunting images.
Into this mix of mediums strode Shadow Executive Artistic Director Jeffrey Nickelson and Associate Artistic Director Hugo Jon Sayles. The two men stood at opposite podiums, portraying a younger and an older Frederick Douglass, respectively, and giving voice to selections from his writings set to the background hymns and provocative slides.
Sayles as the elder Douglass looked the part – long bushy salt and pepper hair and beard, dressed formally in the long-tailed coat of the period. But there was something in his piercing eyes, full of unwavering determination, that most resembled the famous portraits of the man.
Nickleson, in less formal attire – vest and open shirt with rolled sleeves – spoke with great logical indignation, infusing the younger Douglass with a believable mixture of rage and eloquence.
Shadow’s season program indicates the production was originally conceived as a one-person play starring only Nickelson. Adding Sayles provided a subtle dramatic tension that it’s hard to imagine a one-person version would have matched. And though the switching between a younger and older voice sometimes seemed arbitrary, the energy that passed between Nickelson and Sayles was palpable, as each commanded his own corner of the enormous stage.
Much as I appreciated the artistry of mixing different genres, I wished for more theatricality. The production felt more like a staged reading – excellent though the reading was.
However, the encore production at Shadow’s home space at 1420 Ogden promises to raise the bar. According to staff member P. J. Damico, the set for the December encore will be the hull of a slave ship. A smaller 12-person ensemble will replace the full Spirituals Project choir, and a one-act play, Pearl Cleage’s Chain – the story of a 16-year-old crack addict – will juxtapose a contemporary form of bondage alongside Douglass’s amazing life’s tale.
“Put away your race prejudice,” Sayles, the elder Douglass, said, as the screen raised and the racially mixed choir broke out in one final hymn.
“Oh Freedom,” they sang. “Before I’d be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free.”
Amen.

Editor’s note: Shadow Theatre Company’s The Spirit of Frederick Douglass will open Thursday, Nov. 30 and run Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through Dec. 9 in the Ralph Waldo Emerson Center at 1420 Ogden. All shows begin at 8 p.m.
For tickets and more information, call 303-837-9355 or visit www.shadowtheatre.com.