DESSA ROSE at BAILIWICK CHICAGO

Based on both fact and fiction, the musical weaves together the stories of tworeal women, one white and one black, who struggled for different kinds offreedom in an era defined by men. Ruth Sutton is a white woman abandoned by herhusband and living on an isolated farm. Dessa Rose is an escaped slave on therun from a bloody slave rebellion, with a newborn infant to protect, who seeksrefuge on Ruth's farm. Hidden in this Alabamabackwater, the two women's uneasy alliance ultimately transcends any racialbarriers as they find the strength to confront the world on their own terms.Their dangerous journey to freedom and self-realization makes for a musicalthat is by turns comic, tragic, uplifting and inspired.