Based on a true story.
ACT ONE begins in July of 1800, just outside Richmond Virginia. Thomas Prosser, Sr. is on his deathbed, attended by his 24-year old son, Thomas, as a thunderstorm rages outside ("The Storm"). When the elder Prosser dies, Gabriel, a 24-year old enslaved blacksmith seizes the opportunity and runs for freedom. After he is caught, Gabriel devises a new plan: to purchase his freedom by hiring out for extra blacksmithing work (“Closer”). Weeks later, Thomas, having inherited the plantation, tells Gabriel how he relishes the control he’ll now have over the plantation, its properties, and, in particular, one of the enslaved teenage girls (“Daddy’s Gone”). Thomas rejects Gabriel's suggestion that he set things right and free the slaves.
Nanny brings a rake she has intentionally broken to Gabriel for repairs. Nanny tries to get Gabriel to describe his escape attempt (“What Was It Like?”), but Gabriel insists that she never attempt it. Frustrated, Nanny confronts Gabriel accuses Gabriel of abandoning his people. She leaves the shop.
On her way back to the fields, Nanny encounters Delia, a teenage enslaved. Delia confides to Nanny that she has becomes pregnant by Thomas. Nanny assures Delia that Thomas will make provisions for the child. Just then, Absalom Johnson, a mean-tempered, local white farmer looking for work, comes upon the girls and attacks Nanny, intending to rape her. Johnson is interrupted as Gabriel comes to Nanny's aid. Johnson taunts and demeans Gabriel, who then wrestles Johnson to the ground and bites off part of Johnson’s ear. Thomas arrives and refuses Johnson’s insistence that Gabriel be lynched right then and there. Thomas knows that if Gabriel is instead executed by the courts, Thomas will be reimbursed by the state for Gabriel’s full value. After the others leave, Gabriel tries to strike a deal with Thomas, offering to purchase his freedom instead of facing trial. After Thomas determines where Gabriel keeps his earnings, Thomas arranges for Gabriel to be taken to jail. Thomas then approaches Delia, who announces to him that she is pregnant with their child. Thomas leaves her, rejecting the notion.
Awaiting trial, Gabriel shares a jail cell with the powerful Jack Ditcher, an enslaved man who fans to flame Gabriel’s sense of rage at the injustices undergone by the enslaved (“Stoke the Fire”). In court, Gabriel takes advantage of an arcane legal rule which allows for a suspended sentence if the guilty can read. The judge requires Thomas to post bond, guaranteeing Gabriel’s good behavior. The judge admonishes the young Prosser to better control his slaves.
On the way home, Thomas declares to Gabriel that Gabriel's entire savings will be used to pay the cost of the bond (“Because of You”). Thomas then swears to never free Gabriel, not at any price. After Thomas leaves, Gabriel blames Nanny for his punishment, but Nanny fires back, pressing him to explain why he intervened on her behalf. He admits that he perhaps cares for her, and always has. She admits the same possibility. As she turns to leave, Gabriel tries to convince her not to rush off, and to stay for a quiet moment together (“Here for Now”).
Delia goes to Thomas' house to plead for their unborn child's welfare. She is confronted by Thomas' fiancé, the well-to-do socialite Lucy Hylton ("The Man is Mine"). Lucy berates Delia and begins to beat her, but she is interrupted by Thomas, who announces he's decided to sell Delia. Delia is distraught, unable to understand how Thomas could consign their unborn child to a life of slavery.
Elsewhere on the plantation during a barbeque, the enslaved welcome Jack Ditcher, whom Gabriel had met in jail. Delia arrives, despondent that she and her unborn child are to be sold. She and the others ask God why He hasn’t yet delivered them, but Jack Ditcher calls on them all to rise up instead of praying, and to revolt right then and there (“Why Lord?”). Gabriel steps in to avert a limited revolt that would be quickly crushed. He proposes a coordinated, planned attack that will rally the enslaved from all over Virginia as a single army. Act One ends as thousands of others around Virginia are recruited to the cause (“Death or Liberty”).
ACT TWO opens as final preparations are made for the uprising ("Death or Liberty - Reprise"). But an unprecedented torrential downpour begins to flood the roads and bridges, making it impossible for the enslaved to gather or to create the diversion they'd planned. Gabriel decides that the uprising will be delayed by one day (“We Will Rise”). With this plan, the others leave Gabriel and Nanny, who fall to sleep on the workshop floor. They are suddenly awoken the next morning by Thomas, who has received word from Governor James Monroe that Gabriel is the leader of an intended uprising. Gabriel overpowers Thomas and escapes, going into hiding with Jack Ditcher.
Nanny arrives at the men's hiding place in the woods with food and tells them that Gabriel’s older brother Martin has been captured along with several others, all of whom are to be hanged. Gabriel wants to rescue Martin. Ditcher gives up hope and tells them that he'll try to escape to Norfolk. Hearing this, Nanny recalls that the enslaved in Norfolk had been prepared to take part in the uprising. They all decide that Gabriel needs to somehow make his way to Norfolk and rally the enslaved there ("We Will Rise - Reprise"). Gabriel promises to return to Richmond with an army.
Meanwhile, Governor Monroe summons Thomas, who brings Lucy for support. Since most of the captured slaves were from Thomas' plantation and Gabriel was the leader, Monroe virtually accuses Thomas of being complicit. Monroe manipulates Thomas into bankrolling a reward for Gabriel and to forego any compensation by the state for the hanging of Thomas' convicted slaves. This embarrassment and loss of assets infuriates Lucy.
Gabriel narrowly evades capture in the woods as he attempts to find a way to Norfolk on heavily patrolled roads. He comes across Captain Richardson Taylor, a white, former overseer. Recently converted to the Christian faith, Taylor has developed a conscience. Gabriel convinces Taylor to do the right thing and help Gabriel escape to Norfolk (“What’s Right”). After arriving in Norfolk, however, one of the enslaved ship’s hands, Billy, hoping for the reward money with which he might purchase his freedom, betrays Gabriel to the authorities.
Meanwhile in a Richmond prison cell, Gabriel's brother Martin and Ben await their trials. Ben, who had been enthusiastic about the rebellion, now succumbs to fear of hanging and offers to the authorities, in exchange for his life, testimony against all those being tried. Martin, resigned to his fate, sings a hymn, giving him courage to face what lies ahead (“Bring Me on Home”).
Gabriel is returned to Richmond in chains, where he is interrogated by Monroe, who has asked Thomas to join him (“Like This”). Monroe seeks details of the planned uprising. Gabriel, however, challenges Monroe with the cruelty of slavery in a nation founded on liberty and equality. Gabriel says the uprising would have completed the American Revolution, a war that had freed only half of all Americans. To avoid martyring Gabriel, Monroe offers him deportation to the deep south, but Gabriel chooses instead to die with his captured companions. Gabriel then confronts Thomas, who had been his boyhood friend. Thomas attacks Gabriel to silence him.
After his trial, Gabriel is brought back to a prison cell shared with Ditcher and Nanny. Gabriel says he cannot regret losing all in the quest for freedom. Affirming that freedom never comes for free, he and Nanny hold to the hope that their actions will inspire future generations to pursue freedom, for all people and at any cost (“Fan the Flame”).
ACT ONE begins in July of 1800, just outside Richmond Virginia. Thomas Prosser, Sr. is on his deathbed, attended by his 24-year old son, Thomas, as a thunderstorm rages outside ("The Storm"). When the elder Prosser dies, Gabriel, a 24-year old enslaved blacksmith seizes the opportunity and runs for freedom. After he is caught, Gabriel devises a new plan: to purchase his freedom by hiring out for extra blacksmithing work (“Closer”). Weeks later, Thomas, having inherited the plantation, tells Gabriel how he relishes the control he’ll now have over the plantation, its properties, and, in particular, one of the enslaved teenage girls (“Daddy’s Gone”). Thomas rejects Gabriel's suggestion that he set things right and free the slaves.
Nanny brings a rake she has intentionally broken to Gabriel for repairs. Nanny tries to get Gabriel to describe his escape attempt (“What Was It Like?”), but Gabriel insists that she never attempt it. Frustrated, Nanny confronts Gabriel accuses Gabriel of abandoning his people. She leaves the shop.
On her way back to the fields, Nanny encounters Delia, a teenage enslaved. Delia confides to Nanny that she has becomes pregnant by Thomas. Nanny assures Delia that Thomas will make provisions for the child. Just then, Absalom Johnson, a mean-tempered, local white farmer looking for work, comes upon the girls and attacks Nanny, intending to rape her. Johnson is interrupted as Gabriel comes to Nanny's aid. Johnson taunts and demeans Gabriel, who then wrestles Johnson to the ground and bites off part of Johnson’s ear. Thomas arrives and refuses Johnson’s insistence that Gabriel be lynched right then and there. Thomas knows that if Gabriel is instead executed by the courts, Thomas will be reimbursed by the state for Gabriel’s full value. After the others leave, Gabriel tries to strike a deal with Thomas, offering to purchase his freedom instead of facing trial. After Thomas determines where Gabriel keeps his earnings, Thomas arranges for Gabriel to be taken to jail. Thomas then approaches Delia, who announces to him that she is pregnant with their child. Thomas leaves her, rejecting the notion.
Awaiting trial, Gabriel shares a jail cell with the powerful Jack Ditcher, an enslaved man who fans to flame Gabriel’s sense of rage at the injustices undergone by the enslaved (“Stoke the Fire”). In court, Gabriel takes advantage of an arcane legal rule which allows for a suspended sentence if the guilty can read. The judge requires Thomas to post bond, guaranteeing Gabriel’s good behavior. The judge admonishes the young Prosser to better control his slaves.
On the way home, Thomas declares to Gabriel that Gabriel's entire savings will be used to pay the cost of the bond (“Because of You”). Thomas then swears to never free Gabriel, not at any price. After Thomas leaves, Gabriel blames Nanny for his punishment, but Nanny fires back, pressing him to explain why he intervened on her behalf. He admits that he perhaps cares for her, and always has. She admits the same possibility. As she turns to leave, Gabriel tries to convince her not to rush off, and to stay for a quiet moment together (“Here for Now”).
Delia goes to Thomas' house to plead for their unborn child's welfare. She is confronted by Thomas' fiancé, the well-to-do socialite Lucy Hylton ("The Man is Mine"). Lucy berates Delia and begins to beat her, but she is interrupted by Thomas, who announces he's decided to sell Delia. Delia is distraught, unable to understand how Thomas could consign their unborn child to a life of slavery.
Elsewhere on the plantation during a barbeque, the enslaved welcome Jack Ditcher, whom Gabriel had met in jail. Delia arrives, despondent that she and her unborn child are to be sold. She and the others ask God why He hasn’t yet delivered them, but Jack Ditcher calls on them all to rise up instead of praying, and to revolt right then and there (“Why Lord?”). Gabriel steps in to avert a limited revolt that would be quickly crushed. He proposes a coordinated, planned attack that will rally the enslaved from all over Virginia as a single army. Act One ends as thousands of others around Virginia are recruited to the cause (“Death or Liberty”).
ACT TWO opens as final preparations are made for the uprising ("Death or Liberty - Reprise"). But an unprecedented torrential downpour begins to flood the roads and bridges, making it impossible for the enslaved to gather or to create the diversion they'd planned. Gabriel decides that the uprising will be delayed by one day (“We Will Rise”). With this plan, the others leave Gabriel and Nanny, who fall to sleep on the workshop floor. They are suddenly awoken the next morning by Thomas, who has received word from Governor James Monroe that Gabriel is the leader of an intended uprising. Gabriel overpowers Thomas and escapes, going into hiding with Jack Ditcher.
Nanny arrives at the men's hiding place in the woods with food and tells them that Gabriel’s older brother Martin has been captured along with several others, all of whom are to be hanged. Gabriel wants to rescue Martin. Ditcher gives up hope and tells them that he'll try to escape to Norfolk. Hearing this, Nanny recalls that the enslaved in Norfolk had been prepared to take part in the uprising. They all decide that Gabriel needs to somehow make his way to Norfolk and rally the enslaved there ("We Will Rise - Reprise"). Gabriel promises to return to Richmond with an army.
Meanwhile, Governor Monroe summons Thomas, who brings Lucy for support. Since most of the captured slaves were from Thomas' plantation and Gabriel was the leader, Monroe virtually accuses Thomas of being complicit. Monroe manipulates Thomas into bankrolling a reward for Gabriel and to forego any compensation by the state for the hanging of Thomas' convicted slaves. This embarrassment and loss of assets infuriates Lucy.
Gabriel narrowly evades capture in the woods as he attempts to find a way to Norfolk on heavily patrolled roads. He comes across Captain Richardson Taylor, a white, former overseer. Recently converted to the Christian faith, Taylor has developed a conscience. Gabriel convinces Taylor to do the right thing and help Gabriel escape to Norfolk (“What’s Right”). After arriving in Norfolk, however, one of the enslaved ship’s hands, Billy, hoping for the reward money with which he might purchase his freedom, betrays Gabriel to the authorities.
Meanwhile in a Richmond prison cell, Gabriel's brother Martin and Ben await their trials. Ben, who had been enthusiastic about the rebellion, now succumbs to fear of hanging and offers to the authorities, in exchange for his life, testimony against all those being tried. Martin, resigned to his fate, sings a hymn, giving him courage to face what lies ahead (“Bring Me on Home”).
Gabriel is returned to Richmond in chains, where he is interrogated by Monroe, who has asked Thomas to join him (“Like This”). Monroe seeks details of the planned uprising. Gabriel, however, challenges Monroe with the cruelty of slavery in a nation founded on liberty and equality. Gabriel says the uprising would have completed the American Revolution, a war that had freed only half of all Americans. To avoid martyring Gabriel, Monroe offers him deportation to the deep south, but Gabriel chooses instead to die with his captured companions. Gabriel then confronts Thomas, who had been his boyhood friend. Thomas attacks Gabriel to silence him.
After his trial, Gabriel is brought back to a prison cell shared with Ditcher and Nanny. Gabriel says he cannot regret losing all in the quest for freedom. Affirming that freedom never comes for free, he and Nanny hold to the hope that their actions will inspire future generations to pursue freedom, for all people and at any cost (“Fan the Flame”).