Charleston Gaillard Center Reveals Full Casting for World Premiere of FINDING FREEDOM: THE JOURNEY OF ROBERT SMALLS

Charleston Gaillard Center has announced the full cast for the world premiere of Finding Freedom: The Journey of Robert Smalls, written by Teralyn Reiter and directed by JaMeeka Holloway. The production, which builds upon the Gaillard’s commitment to programming that uplifts stories of underappreciated heroes from the South, will be performed in Charleston, SC this coming October for the public and for thousands of students across the Lowcountry. Finding Freedom combines music, media, and movement to tell the story of South Carolinian Robert Smalls, a formerly enslaved man who engineered a daring sea-escape during the Civil War and spent the rest of his life—including five terms serving in the U.S. House of Representatives—working for equality in the postwar South.

The all-Southern cast is comprised of Joshua Suiter as Robert Smalls, Aydan Gadsden as Young Robert, Keith Alston as Older Robert, Michele Powe as Lydia (Robert’s mother), Zania Cummings as Hannah (Robert’s wife), R.W. Smith as The White Man, John Smalls as Person 1/Jim/Voter, Sadia Matthews as Person 2/Sarah (Robert’s daughter), Ronnie Walker as Person 3, and Shanna Hastie as Person 4.

Joshua Suiter (Atlanta, GA) has appeared onstage in The Wiz, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Ain’t Misbehavin; film Bigger Than Me (Beats by Dr. Dre) and was a presenter at the 94th Academy Awards.

Aydan Gadsden (Charleston, SC) is extremely proud to be joining the cast in his first role. Aydan was born in North Charleston, SC, where he now lives with his family. He is in the seventh grade and is known for his love of singing, gaming, and playing basketball.

Keith Alston (Charleston, SC) has been seen onstage in The Piano Lesson, One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show, A Raisin in the Sun, Driving Miss Daisy, Five Guys Named Moe, The Paul Laurence Dunbar Story, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Clyde’s, and Septima.

Michele Powe (Charleston, SC) has performed onstage in Septima, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Amen Corner, Intimate Apparel, The Exonerated, and For Colored Girls: and in film/tv in Paws P.I., The Inspectors, Mr. Mercedes, and Reckless.

Zania Cummings (Charleston, SC) has appeared onstage in Antigone, CEH, and The Girls of Summer, and in film in Dividends, Like Fine Silk, Daze, and Alchemy.

R.W. Smith (Charleston, SC) has performed onstage in Hangmen, Ben Butler, True West, Death of a Salesman, Sweat, American Buffalo, The Pillowman, Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train and much more. He has also appeared on film and screen in Army Wives, Vampire Resurrection, Cold Soldiers and NY International Film Festival award-winning Silent Scream.

John Smalls (Charleston, SC) is a stage and screen actor and singer who has appeared in over twenty plays and musicals in Charleston and the surrounding area; films When All Hell Breaks Loose, Letters to Rolanda and The Notebook; television Army Wives, and Porgy and Bess documentary on PBS. (No relation to Robert Smalls.)

Sadia Matthews (Charleston, SC) has performed onstage in Ship, Antigone, MLM is for Murder, and Too Much Memory.

Ronnie Walker (Charleston, SC) has performed in Lucky Stiff; 1984; Evil Dead: The Musical; Legally Blonde; Spamalot; The Addams Family; One Man, Two Guvnors; and more; films include Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Waltons’ Homecoming.

Shanna Hastie (Goose Creek, SC) is a comedic actor who has appeared in A Raisin in the Sun, Final Destination, Divine Intervention, and Kumite, in addition to performing comedy shows in South Carolina and Georgia.

The creative team, also all Southern, is anchored by award-winning director JaMeeka Holloway, who was just awarded the New York Stage and Film Pfaelzer Award, and playwright Teralyn Reiter, with musical direction by Grammy Award-winning artist Charlton Singleton. They are joined by Broadway and regional theater lighting designer, professor and theatrical consultant Kathy A. Perkins, and a cross-generational group of theater artists including Tristan André Parks (Movement Director), Brandi Alexander (Scenic Design), Celeste Jennings (Costume Design), Joseph Amodei (Media Design), and author, professor and historian Damon Fordham (Historian/Dramaturge).

Finding Freedom tells of the early years of Robert Smalls’ life enslaved in Beaufort, learning the land, waters, and Gullah traditions of his mother and his daring and heroic commandeering of the Confederate USS Planter where he was a deckhand during the Civil War. On May 13, 1862, he successfully commandeered the ship and steered it into the Union Blockade off the coast of Charleston Harbor, freeing the crew and offering the ship to the Union. He then traveled to Washington to persuade President Lincoln to accept Black men into the Union Army and subsequently served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he passed legislation for the creation of the public school system in South Carolina, which later became the model for the nation.

Through this production, the Gaillard will once again open its doors to the Charleston community to acknowledge America’s difficult history of race and slavery using the arts to bridge divides and build dialogue in a city that historically saw some of the first enslaved men, women, and children enter through its port. This production is the first show in a larger program the Gaillard Center is launching that will develop and distribute new family theatrical productions that highlight Southern stories often missing from the state curriculum, present productions across the Southeast with the goal of touring nationally, and further provide a home for local and regional untold stories on the Gaillard Center’s stage.
 

Finding Freedom: The Journey of Robert Smalls is part of the Charleston Gaillard Center’s 2023-24 season. Find a full schedule of the season at gaillardcenter.org.

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