Lorene Carey

MY GENERAL TUBMAN

This title is now available worldwide.

MY GENERAL TUBMAN

Full-length Drama

by Lorene Carey

Evelyn contemplates that this solo journey to her Caribbean beach house might be her final one, with old age looming and her children's interventions on the horizon. Meanwhile, Rory, a seasoned traveler, seeks a welcoming refuge. Accepting Evelyn's invitation for a brief stay, maybe one or two nights, Rory gradually finds himself feeling increasingly at ease in Evelyn's home. Surprisingly, Evelyn is delighted to have a pleasant and helpful young companion. As they spend time together, they both discover that their friendship is evolving into something more meaningful than they initially anticipated.

Casting
(2W, 6M)

Author’s Notes

My General Tubman asks how Harriet Tubman gives and receives love. It uses the Black American aesthetic of call-and-response to answer in a way that privileges accessibility and connection above cleverness.

Underneath My General Tubman lays Henry V,a 19th-century African Americans’ fave, with all its hints and tricks. Harriet is royalty. The Chorus narrator helps audience members get their bearings. The fantastic setting and tender love story help us let go of an American cliché to envision Tubman’s transcendence over the obscene legacy of chattel slavery. Hers is love in action, love in the midst of hatred, in the midst of loss, love like armor to protect against the temptation to become less than or try to become more than human.

-Lorene Carey


Author

Lorene Carey

Fall 2023: TRW publishes My General Tubman, where we see the iconic Harriet Tubman as a time traveler, leader of the Civil War Combahee River Raid--and post-war wife. Books, digital copies and licensing. January 2024: World premiere of Ladysitting, commissioned by Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. It's an adaptation of my memoir about caring for my grandmother at the end of her life. In this take, Death makes an appearance. Literally.
 2026: Jubilee! with composer Damien Geter for Portland Opera. Can we sing the Black future into being? The original Jubilee singers did, taking the spirituals into concert halls from here to Europe and making enough money to buy the land on which their university

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