EgoPo Classic Theater Opens UNCLE TOM'S CABIN World Premiere Tonight

EgoPo Classic Theater's world premiere adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's revolutionary novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, has launched a vibrant discussion about race both locally and nationally.

In February of this year, when EgoPo's cross-racial casting of this play was announced, a virtual firestorm of debate formed on-line when a PhillyMag blog went national on the Clyde Fitch Report. EgoPo went public with its racially progressive goals for this staging and began an active discussion about the artistic decisions involved. This week, bothAmerican Theater Magazine and Philadelphia Magazine covered the debate and examined EgoPo's intentions for staging the show.

A recent workshop of the play in New York at The Drama League sparked wonderful audience dialogue and stellar feedback, and further convinced EgoPo of the importance of this project. This month, EgoPo has teamed up the Brother's Network, a Philadelphia-based African American Cultural Organization and the PA Humanities Council to create a forum entitled "Performing Race in America" which will be presented on Tuesday, June 4th.

This world premier adaption of Uncle Tom's Cabin will be directed by EgoPo's Artistic Director, Lane Savadove, in collaboration with renowned Philadelphia choreographer, Paule Turner, and will mark the final installment of EgoPo's American Vaudeville Festival. Uncle Tom's Cabin will be performed on the mainstage at Plays and Players Theater. Press opening will be Friday, May 31st and the show will run until Sunday, June 9th.

EgoPo Classic Theater produces rarely seen classics of literature and theatre in year-long festivals that take audiences on a season-long exploration of a single theatrical theme. This year's American Vaudeville Festival explores the great icons and stories of this formative era of American history; from the touring shows of the 1880's to the birth of Broadway in the 1920's.

Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling book of the 19th century and radically transformed the nation's sentiments toward the institution of slavery. During that time, most people experienced Stowe's work on stage, making Uncle Tom's Cabin the most seen play in American history. Over 3 million people crowded into theaters to see the story that Abraham Lincoln said "began this great war" and that had a major influence on the abolition movement.

Due, in part, to minstrel show versions of the play in the early 20th century, by the 1950's Uncle Tom's Cabin was regarded as racist and went from core required reading, to historical artifact. Only in the last decade has Stowe's seminal novel been reclaimed by scholars, such as Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cornell West, as a truly transformative and historical piece for race relations in America.

EgoPo will support Stowe's vision of an America that embraces diversity, understanding, and empathy, by presenting the novel in a race-reversed adaption. This reversal will allow audiences to look at the very mechanisms of slavery and racism as well as slavery's legacy on contemporary American society. The goal is for audiences to perceive the humanity of all the characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin regardless of race.

Only through understanding can we cut the damaging tendrils of slavery's legacy and heal the deep scars slavery has left on America. We need to stop seeing racism as a problem that lives in others, and look carefully at ourselves. Reversing the races in the play, seeks to aid in this honest self-examination of both our society and selves. As we seek to present a candid depiction of slavery, this play will contain sensitive content that may be uncomfortable to some viewers.

EgoPo has assembled a large and diverse cast to bring Stowe's vivid novel to full life; including some familiar EgoPo faces, likeEd Swidey and Steven Wright, as well as some new faces, like Tiffany Bacon and Paule Turner.

Brother's Network and Forum: Performing Race in America

Uncle Tom's Cabin will be a premiere event of The Brother's Network's 2013-14 Henry Box Brown Festival, funded by The Knights Foundation. The Brother's Network is a Philadelphia based cultural organization, founded in 2008 by Gregory Walker, dedicated to transforming how African American men understand themselves and to evolving black identities through dialogue, discourse, arts and culture. Named after Henry Box Brown, a Virginian slave, who shipped himself in a wooden crate to Philadelphia and freedom, this yearlong multidisciplinary Festival of events will explore the culture of oppression and the notion of liberation through symposia, dialogue, and art.

In conjunction with Uncle Tom's Cabin, EgoPo and The Brother's Network will host a special forum entitled Performing Race in America, funded by the PA Humanities Council and The Knight's Foundation featuring guest scholars. The forum will be held on Tuesday, June 4th at 7pm at Plays and Players Theater. This unique conversation will focus on EgoPo's unique race reversed casting as well as the complexities and importance of understanding as well as discussing slavery's legacy in modern America.

The forum will feature a diverse panel of distinguished scholars including: Dr. Anthony Monteiro Ph.D., the director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought at Temple University; Dr. Ania Loomba Ph.D., who currently holds the Catherine Bryson Chair in the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania- her work focuses on gender, colonialism, and post-colonialism; and David Waldstreicher, Ph.D., a Temple University History professor who specializes in early and 19th-century American history with a focus on slavery and anti-slavery.

Uncle Tom's Cabin: An Unfortunate History runs May 31st through June 9th at Plays and Players Theater. Wednesday through Friday performances are at 8pm; Saturday performances are at 2pm and 8pm; Sunday performances are at 5pm. Tickets: $20.00 - $32.00. For tickets, call 267-273-1414 or visit us online at www.egopo.org.

Cast	Crew
Nia Ali: Eva	Director: Lane Savadove
Tiffany Bacon: Mrs. Shelby	Assistant Director: Jaried Kimberley
Robert Carlton: Andy	Set: Joe Napolitano
Caroline Crocker: Chloe	Costumes: Natalia de la Torre
Katie Croyle: Dinah	Lights: Matt Sharp
Langston Darby: Haley	Sound Design: Zachary Wisely
Maria Konstantinidis: Eliza	Dramaturgy: Glenn Odom
Anthony Martinez-Briggs: George Harris	Stage Management: Matthew Ploch
Rachel O'Hanlon-Rodriguez: Topsy	Adaptation: Lane Savadove & Glenn Odom
Ryan Sanders: Young George Shelby
Lia Simon: Ophelia
Ed Swidey: Uncle Tom
Paule Turner: Mr. Shelby
Matthew Weil: Sam
Steven Wright: Augustine St. Clare