James Mitchell, Sydney Crutcher & Latreshia Lilly. Photo courtesy of John Bivins Photography.
“If you deny people their own voice, you’ll have no idea of who they were.”
—Alice Walker
New York’s Little Italy once stretched from Worth to Houston, from Lafayette to the Bowery. It’s now a scant three blocks and a cannoli from Ferrara’s. That’s OK—neighborhoods naturally come and go as populations change, as immigration patterns shift, as children leave home and new hopefuls arrive.
It’s one thing, however, to accept that the natural ebb and flow of urban life shifts neighborhood cultures and boundaries. It’s entirely another to confront the loss of a diverse and thriving district that was abruptly razed to make way for the edifices of power.
That’s what happened to Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward with the expansion of the Capitol Complex between 1913 and 1919—then again in the 1950s. When the Eighth Ward was claimed by the commonwealth, its inhabitants (many of them African American) lost their homes, their livelihoods, their neighbors and their connection to their own history. This kind of disruption doesn’t just fragment the stories of those living through it but also the stories of their ancestors and descendants. Those once-strong voices become whispers and then those whispers are lost, blown away on the winds of “progress.”
Sharia Benn, the founder, president and executive artistic director of Sankofa African American Theatre Company, saw a pressing need to salvage those stories. She delved into the history, and the result is her ever-evolving theatrical project, “Voices of the Eighth,” something she describes as a tapestry of storytelling.
“I believe in the power of local history and truth,” Benn said. “I’m trying to connect people, especially local people, to their local roots, their local stories.”
The first iteration of “Voices of the Eighth” was performed in 2020, the second in early 2022. By then, it was clear to Benn that, if she wanted to tell a hundred stories, one for each of the hundred names on the “Gathering at the Crossroads” monument at 4th and Walnut, it would need to be a multipart, multiyear project. The name of this year’s installation reflects that intention: “Voices of the Eighth: Chronicles II; Stories from Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward.”
Wherever possible, these productions—which combine storytelling, video imagery, movement and song—draw on primary sources such as diaries, letters, poems and published works. In this way, “Voices of the Eighth” is not just telling stories about historical Harrisburg-connected African American abolitionists, artists and changemakers such as Alice Dunbar Nelson or Maud Coleman. It is letting those people speak for themselves.
“These aren’t made-up stories but the erased histories of actual people,” Benn said. “We give the audience facts and then let them deal with those facts in whatever way makes sense to them.”
People have come to productions and recognized the names of their ancestors. Benn is thrilled when that happens because it means that her plays are connecting people to their roots, connecting them to greatness.
“Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass are, of course, amazing,” Benn said. “But they’re not the only stories of Black folk doing great things. When people hear stories that come from local history or even their literal families, they feel inspired. These stories are in their blood.”
But Benn has found that this project inspires more than audiences (though audiences have been passionately appreciative).
“We cast actors from all over, and we create this collaborative process,” she said. “The play is fully written and scripted, but I leave room for actors to contribute, and I‘ve so enjoyed over the years hearing actors who were like, ‘I didn’t care about history—I just wanted to act—but now I learned something.’ Sankofa artists embrace these stories, learn from them, and then they themselves grow into agents of social change—they become artivists.”
Benn sees a pressing need for artist-activists. The arguments justifying the erasure of the Old Eighth Ward are not confined to history—gentrification is still dislocation.
“If we don’t see it for what it is and if we don’t connect things, it will continue to happen,” she said. “But if you know your history, you can be prepared for it. You can speak out with power, knowing these patterns are not unique to you or your community.”
“Chronicles II,” which will run at Gamut Theatre in February, will entertain as well as educate, of course, or what’s the point? Theater is meant to be enjoyed, but it can be so much more. Benn sums it up like this: “That’s the work of Sankofa. We use theater as a vessel to pour into people and make them stronger.”
“Voices of the Eighth: Chronicles II; Stories from Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward” runs from Feb. 3 to 12 at Gamut Theatre, 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.gamuttheatre.org/vote or www.sankofatheatrehbg.com/general-8.
UPCOMING EVENTS
At Gamut Theatre
www.gamuttheatre.org
717-238-4111
“Voices of the Eighth: Chronicles II”
Feb. 3 to 12
Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
TMI Improv
Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
