The story of a legend

“Harriet Tubman: An American Moses” premieres Friday

Anna Eggers, News Editor
February 13, 2019

The Ben Davis community always offers great opportunities for students and adults living in our district. The Wayne Township Community Theatre is one organization in Wayne that continues to contribute to the creatures living in our district- and for free. Upcoming, Wayne Township Community Theatre will premiere the play Harriet Tubman: An American Moses on Friday, February 15.

The play will run on Friday the 15th and 22nd and Saturday the 16th and 23rd at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday the 17th and 24th at 1:30 p.m, And most interestingly,- they’ll be completely free. The story follows Harriet Tubman through the eyes of a narrator and explains details than many people who are aware of her story don’t even realize.

Starring in the play as Harriet Tubman herself is Parent Liaison at Chapel Glen Elementary School, Renee Pack, who has worked in Wayne Township for 13 years and contributed to the community theatre for nearly 10 years. After being chosen in November to play this role, Pack is proud to spread the play’s message.

“It is an honor to play Harriet Tubman. She is such a great American and role model. She was a woman of great courage and faith. There is a lot of responsibility for playing a real-life character. I feel the pressure to honor her legacy in the best way possible,” Pack said.

Harriet Tubman is one of the most well-known women who lived while slavery was legal in the United States, and her general story includes escaping from slavery, having the option to go straight to safety and never look back, but choosing to dedicate herself to saving other slaves. Throughout her missions, she is said to have rescued over 70 slaves. Although this story might simply seem like one from the distant past, the world today continues to be prejudiced towards people of color, and black women in particular.

“Her story directly relates to our modern day world. People still are fighting to live freely and without fear. Racism is still in existence, and it is still destructive as it was in the days of slavery. There is a line at the end of the play that reads, “Slavery is the next thing to hell. If a person would send another to bondage, he would, pears me, be bad enough to send him to hell if he could.” Even though Harriet lived through slavery, she still maintained hope,” Pack said.         

Throughout the play, Tubman’s story follows and encourages a few themes that remain important to this day- including the importance of courage, being dedicated to a cause, the power of freedom, and being compassionate. After watching the play, there is one more feeling the actors and crew hope you walk away with: hope.

“Our hope is that people will see the play and be reminded of the shame of slavery in this country. We hope that people will commit to taking an active part in unifying our families, community, and country under a banner of love, respect, and compassion for all,” Pack said.