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The script for The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae was adapted by Letta Neely from Ifé Franklin’s book of the same name. This experimental short film was directed by Ifé Franklin with support from the Emmy-Award winning director Evelyn Moore. The film was shot on location at the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford, MA, by The Loop Lab Production Crew. The production team also includes: Musical Director Elizabeth Addision, Musician Kera Washington, Choreography and Movement by Melissa Alexis, Costumes by Sparklle Thames, and Stage Management by Abria Smith. The cast features: Qualina Lewis in the role of Willie Mae, Tammy Denease as Willie Mae’s mother Virginia, Dayenne Walters as Old Aunt Sara, Michael Gordon Penn as Overseer Jack, and Candis Hilton as Young Miss Ann.
The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae (TSNWM) is a work of historical fiction by multidisciplinary artist Ifé Franklin which tells the story of Willie Mae Lenox, a 20-year old Black woman enslaved in Virginia in the mid 1800s, who sets upon her journey to freedom. TSNWM began as a series of blog posts and live readings and was published in book form in 2018, edited by Letta Neely, published by Wild Heart Press, and printed by Red Sun Press (ISBN 0966309715, 9780966309713). TSNWM is now taking the form of a performance piece which invites the audience into Willie Mae’s environment, creating a sense of connection and immediacy between today’s community members and those who lived their lives in American chattel slavery. This project is not merely an artistic enterprise, it is a metaphysical one – it represents the transformation of the book into a living embodiment of the enslaved ancestors and co-creating with the audience a shared future of freedom and liberation.
The public event and experimental short film version of The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae are supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' Creative City Boston program, with funding from the Barr Foundation, and are also made possible by a Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.
The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae (TSNWM) is a work of historical fiction by multidisciplinary artist Ifé Franklin which tells the story of Willie Mae Lenox, a 20-year old Black woman enslaved in Virginia in the mid 1800s, who sets upon her journey to freedom. During the time of enslavement, Willie Mae and her contemporaries were rendered invisible in public life and spaces.
TSNWM began as a series of blog posts and live readings and was published in book form in 2018, edited by Letta Neely, published by Wild Heart Press, and printed by Red Sun Press (ISBN 0966309715, 9780966309713). TSNWM is now taking the form of a performance piece which invites the audience into Willie Mae’s environment, creating a sense of connection and immediacy between today’s community members and those who lived their lives in American chattel slavery. This project is not merely an artistic enterprise, it is a metaphysical one – it represents the transformation of the book into a living embodiment of the enslaved ancestors and co-creating with the audience a shared future of freedom and liberation.
Aided by ancestral knowledge, abolitionists, and Wampanoag allies, Willie Mae learns to read, battles slave patrollers, and falls in love as she makes her way toward Boston.
The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae: A Performance Piece is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' Creative City Boston program, with funding from the Barr Foundation. This project is made possible (in part) by a Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.
