LIFTING THE CURTAIN

Song of the Middle River

Published Sunday, February 1, 2009

Nick King photo

C. Francis Blackchild directs actors during a rehearsal of the play “Song of the
Middle River.”

Venue: Thespian Hall, 522 Main St., Boonville

Genre: Drama

Story: Thomas Pawley III’s revised version of his 2003 play, based on a true story, tells the tale of a young slave woman,
Celia, who fought against her master’s exploitation by killing him in 1855. The story is told subsequent to her capture, trial
and execution by hanging.

This historical play is told from the point of view of a modern-day griot — a storyteller in West African tribes who kept oral
histories — who sings about the events leading up to Celia’s murder of her master.

Along with telling the story from a black perspective, through the modern-day griot, Pawley said he was also trying to
show the limited options of all women during slavery, who were subjugated by white men. In the story, both his daughters
and Celia occupy positions in society where they must yield to the demands of Robert Newsom, Celia’s master.

“I was trying to suggest the dilemma faced by women, black and white, during slavery,” Pawley said.

With a cast made up of University of Missouri theater students and Boonville residents, the play comes to Columbia after
appearing at Jefferson City High School’s Little Theatre about four years ago. The Missouri History in Performance
Theatre, an outreach theater program of The State Historical Society of Missouri, is putting on the production. Christine
Montgomery, photograph specialist for the society, said this play was chosen because it is about an important story in
Missouri history and explores slavery, which shaped Missouri in profound ways.

“It is coming at a point where whites are more willing to look at slavery and its role in history,” Montgomery said.

Named after a small river between Jefferson City and Fulton, this play is similar to many of Pawley’s historical plays,
which characterize and give voice to historical figures. The playwright, a professor emeritus at Lincoln University, brings to
life a history told in court records, telling her story from both her point of view as well as her community.

This play reveals the attitudes of different people during slavery, including the daughters of the slave owners, slaves and a
slave owner, through a small community inside a farm in Callaway County. Inside this community, many individuals either
deny or accept the sexual exploitation of Celia because of societal norms. Director C. Francis Blackchild said an example
of denial can be seen through the slave owner’s eldest daughter, Mary, who ignores evidence of Celia’s position in her
father’s household, including the fact that she lives in a single cabin away from other slaves and has two mixed-race
children.

“There were people who were actively engaging in this behavior and people like the eldest daughter who put their heads
in the sand,” Blackchild said. “They were all a part of it, slave owners and non-slave owners.”

Because the story is told inside this farm, the daughters as well as the slaves represent Celia’s community. The differing
attitudes of male slaves, who accept Celia’s position as status quo, from the daughters represents the range of attitudes
existing throughout Missouri at the time, Blackchild said.

It is this lack of choices that drives Celia to commit murder, said Mary Jo Durkin, the director of the Little Theatre
production of the play. Celia was raped by Robert Newsom numerous times from the time she was 14 until she was 22.
When she was 22, she developed a relationship with another slave, George, who issued her an ultimatum: She needed to
resist her master’s advances or he would stop seeing her. Blackchild said that this relationship with George causes Celia,
then pregnant with a baby that was either George’s or Newsom’s, to first try to reason with her master and then kill him
when he tried to rape her again. “Underneath that historic figure is a woman who was loved by one man and owned by
another,” Blackchild said.

The play, which Pawley said originally was going to be a courtroom drama, explores the moral dilemma faced by black
individuals in Missouri during slavery, especially women, through the different characters. The play presents a view of
history that is different because it is told by a black narrator, Blackchild said.

“I wouldn’t characterize it as history as it was in the history books,” Blackchild said. “It is a subjective point of view. It is
subjective because it is told from an African-American’s point of view.”

Director: C. Francis Blackchild

Cast: Clyde Ruffin, Mallory Backstrom, Phebe Lauffer, Paige Sommerer, Bob Priddy, Steve Robertson, Andrew Crawford
and Darren Hellwege.

Music: Period music provided by Boonville musicians Cathy Barton and Dave Para.

Time rehearsing: Since Monday

Costumes and set: The play will be performed in a reader’s theater format, meaning no costumes and sets will be used.
The actors will likely wear black and white, similar to what musicians wear at concerts, Blackchild said.

Performance: 6:30 p.m. Friday

Tickets: $5 at the door, call (660) 882-7977, or visit www.friendsofhistoricboonville.org. Or visit the society’s Web site at
www.shs.umsystem.edu/index.shtml.

— Laura Latzko

Copyright © 2009 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights Reserved.

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