Contributed
Alexandria — "It was a much-needed break from technopoly," said one theatregoer at a recent Wednesday evening at The Black History Museum in Alexandria. Technopoly is a term often used today to describe how technology monopolizes our daily lives. Audrey Davis, director of The Black History Museum, introduced the program for the evening and later marveled over how engaged the audience members were in the audio play.
A curious audience gathered to hear the audio play entitled “Look What A Wonder,” a fictionalized Gospel folk opera based on the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1822, written and composed by Walter Robinson and directed by McKenya Dilworth. Vesey was a skilled carpenter in the early 1800s who bought his freedom with his lottery winnings but was unable to buy the freedom of his wife and children. Vesey built the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the massacre recently occurred, for free and enslaved Africans to worship freely and without fear.
A "Listening" was the much-anticipated event of Wednesday evening; where all gathered around an authentic 1917 radio, courtesy of avid collector McArthur Myer, and listened to the folk opera. There were peaks and valleys, as with any traditional theatrical presentation, but what made this experience particularly unique was the opportunity for the audience to imagine their own character's faces and other nuances, like the wonderfully composed music played on in their ears and minds.
Watching the engaged audience gave me hope that perhaps “Listening(s)” can occur in other spaces. After all, radio (and active listening) used to be the American past time before television. There was something nice about seeing a group of people actively listening without all of the technological bells and whistles.
We owe this unique opportunity to listen together to Patricia Washington, president and CEO of Visit Alexandria and sister of the playwright/composer of the folk opera. Washington facilitated the "TalkBack" discussion with the audience and was prepared with surveys after the “Listening” to gather feedback about the overall experience.