All performances are in the Evergreen Com Building Recital Hall and they are FREE.
A group of students, staff, and faculty, in conjunction with First Peoples, Women of Color Coalition, as well as other student and campus organizations, will stage a reading of The Day of Absence, a play written in 1965 by Douglas Turner Ward.
Our yearly celebration of Day of Absence takes its name from this play. The premise of the play, which the author called a satirical fantasy, is that one morning a small southern town awakens to find that all the African Americans in the town are gone. The ensuing panic and near hysteria which ensues leaves no question as to the importance of the roles played by the African Americans in town and how their work is an integral part of the town's economic and social functioning. The play, written and performed in 1965 as a "reverse minstrel show," highlights many issues which form part of systemic racism.
The play will be introduced in the context of the time in which it was written and in the context of our yearly Day of Absence/Day of Presence activities. We will share history about the play, as well as talk about our own Day of Absence, its history, evolution and its relationship to Turner's play.
Douglas Turner Ward presented the play with a cast of all black actors wearing white face. This reading will also use actors wearing white face. At the end of the performance, the actors will hold a discussion with the audience to answer questions and to discuss the play.
