VIRTUAL PERFORMANCES

Charleston Arts Festival is pleased to announce a free three-part virtual play reading series, BEARING WITNESS, produced in partnership with PURE Theatre and Buxton Books.

BEARING WITNESS will open on July 17th with Denmark: Every Man Has a Story, a new play by Ade Ofunniyin. This inspiring new work chronicles what might have been Denmark Vesey and his lieutenant Gullah Jack’s stories leading up to the planned Rise of 1822 in Charleston, South Carolina. Their revolutionary spirit and patriotic bravery earned them a noble place in the temple of souls who are eminently martyred in the art of “freedom fighting.” 

The second offering on July 31st will be Last Rites with a leap to the 1968 Detroit riots.  This play received stellar reviews at its premiere at PURE Theatre in August 2019 and was written by PURE Core Ensemble member Randy Neale.

The series will conclude on August 14th, jumping over a half-century to the present day for a reading of Retcon, a new play by PURE Core Ensemble member Michael Smallwood that examines black rage through the lens of superhero mythology. 

Each of these play readings will be followed by a virtual panel discussion between audience members, experts in various fields, and creatives from PURE Theatre and the larger community. Spanning more than 200 years, BEARING WITNESS gives audiences an opportunity to think deeply about racial injustice and to come together to consider how to move forward in equity.

Although this series of readings is free for all attendees, donations via the PURE Theatre website are welcomed in support of the expenses of production.