Harlem Stage has concluded its sold-out run of Freedom Riders: A Journey With No End in Sight. But this wasn't just a regular theatrical run—the Off-Broadway theatre took Freedom Riders to Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; and Greensboro, North Carolina—before concluding in New York City October 7-18.
The production starred Lisa Arrindell (Disappearing Acts), Russell Hornsby (Fences), Billy Eugene Jones (Purlie Victorious), Angelica Ross (Pose), and Stephen Tyrone Williams (A Master Builder). Tony Award nominee Harry Lennix (Purpose) joined the Montgomery and Atlanta tour stops. See photos from the limited run below.
Angelica Ross in The Freedom Riders
Stephen Tyrone Williams in The Freedom Riders
Billy Eugene Jones in The Freedom Riders
Russell Hornsby in The Freedom Riders
Lisa Arrindell in The Freedom Riders
Company of The Freedom Riders
The event was named after the civil rights activist who traveled through the South in 1961 to protest segregation. This theatrical event followed the journey of those activists. Freedom Riders was made up of first-person monologues with live music to confront the brutal realities of racial profiling, systemic violence against Black Trans lives, unchecked police brutality, and the unrelenting history of racial injustice. It also included an original score composed and performed by piano virtuoso Arden Altino, genre-defying violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Grammy-nominated bassist and former Beyoncé musical director Divinity Roxx. Roxx also composed an original song for the finale, "We Are." Every show ended with the reading of names of people who lost their lives to racially motivated violence: Sandra Bland, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more.
Said show creator, and Harlem Stage CEO and artistic director, Dr. Indira Etwaroo: “It has been one of the deepest honors of my artistic life to conceptualize and direct Freedom Riders in this moment. Traveling the historic route so many once journeyed in the name of justice, alongside the Harlem Stage team and visionary artist-activists who use their gifts in service of truth, was profoundly humbling. To witness young people rise to their feet and join us in the final chorus, ‘We are what we’re waiting for,’ affirmed the deep impact of this work on thousands of community members across the country who saw themselves and the injustices they know all too well reflected back to them. Art, at its highest calling, can move us closer to our shared humanity.”
Etwaroo was inspired by the 2012 book 12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today.
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