Thomas Bradshaw

Aug. 5-31, 2008

3B Development Series

When the master of the plantation dies, he wills his slaves to be freed, but his wife doesn’t think that good property should be squandered. Pandemonium ensues. The play is inspired by the true story of Henry Box Brown who escaped to the north by mailing himself in a box. Southern Promises provides a unique portrait of the old south.

Featuring: Hugh Sinclair*, Lia Aprile*, Erwin Thomas*, Jeff Biehl*, Peter Mccabe*, Sadrina Johnson*, Derrick Sanders*, Matt Huffman.

More Plays by Thomas Bradshaw:
PURITY, PROPHET, CLEANSED and STROM THURMOND IS NOT A RACIST are published by Samuel French, Inc. Learn more about them and get your copies today at http://www.samuelfrench.com
Presented in conjunction with The Immediate Theatre Company and Queens Theater in the Park. Produced in collaboration with the David Schwartz Foundation.

What the reviewers have been saying:

‘…Playwrights generally tiptoe around the subject of race. Thomas Bradshaw stomps…staged with precision and a dark sense of realism…Mr. Thomas…(gives) a powerfully empathetic performance…’- New York Times

‘(a) deeply twisted, coolly brutal period drama…Bradshaw strings a daisy chain of striking moments: …these tableaux approach the evocative, multivalenced power of Kara Walker’s disturbingly decorative silhouettes of antebellum horror. ‘- Village Voice

‘…handsomely directed by Jose Zayas and performed by an excellent cast…’- Time Out New York

‘Playwright Thomas Bradshaw is on to something in Southern Promises. This 80-minute piece is a provocative satire on a serious, still-relevant topic…director Jose Zayas has infused the proceedings with a brisk unity on a tiny stage. The cast, surely all of them playing way against type, is excellent…Bradshaw has based this work in part on a true story from The Great Escapes, a series of slave narratives. But the big picture of the Old South and its racist legacy is all his — and it’s a killer’- Backstage, critic’s pick

‘…never has the hypocrisy of slave owners or their slaves’ plights been so cuttingly and jarringly funny..It’s a tribute to director Jose Zayas’ staging that audiences laugh heartily throughout much of ‘Promises,’ which is hardly the stuff of comedy.’ – AmericanTheaterweb

‘…It’s a striking, challenging piece that studies the abuse of power and the liquidity of morality…” – nytheatre.com