ACT ONE begins with cast members arriving from a political protest that had gone bad. They watch screen projections of moments in Black history. Then, as they transition into early American costumes, they turn and ask the audience why so much of Black history is simply unknown ("Lost, Buried, Forgotten”). We flashback to August 30, 1800, the night of the largest planned uprising of enslaved Americans in history. Gabriel enters, and we see the final preparations for war (“Prelude to War”). Gabriel stops to reflect on how this all started, how he became involved and rose to the position of General, the leader of the rebellion. As thunder sounds, he remembers that night just three months prior…
Gabriel is working in the Prosser blacksmith shop late at night during a thunderstorm. Thomas Prosser, Jr. enters, and tells Gabriel, his friend since boyhood, of Prosser Senior’s worsening condition from appendicitis. Gabriel reminds Thomas of his plans to someday free all the Prosser slaves and move north to operate a print shop (“Once I’m Free”). Gabriel shares his plan after being set free to join his brother Martin in searching for their father, who Thomas’ father had sold unexpectedly. Thomas is called to his father’s side and asks Gabriel to join him. As Prosser Senior dies, the enslaved sing a spiritual (“Bring Me on Home”). Thomas promises to set Gabriel and Martin free in the morning.
The next morning, Gabriel is working and singing happily in his blacksmith shop (“Goin’ On Up”) until Nanny enters with a broken rake, asking him to fix it. She is clearly hurt that Gabriel hasn’t spoken to her of leaving this morning. Gabriel says he’ll come back for her and buy her freedom someday, but she angrily explains to him that she can’t leave their people behind (“I Can’t Go”). She exits with the repaired rake, leaving Gabriel perplexed.
Thomas’ well-to-do fiancé Lucy Hylton has come to the Prosser plantation to console Thomas, who reveals his plan for them to move north after they marry and for him to own a print shop. Alarmed, Lucy uses various tactics to get Thomas to forego his plan and convinces thim to put off freeing Gabriel for several months.
Outside the house, Delia overhears her sister Nanny fuming to herself about Gabriel. Delia reassures Nanny that Gabriel will return one day to marry her. Nanny insists that she cares nothing for Gabriel (“Nowhere, No-how”). Absalom Johnson, a neighboring white overseer, has heard the women and accuses them of hiding from work. He prepares to beat Nanny when Gabriel arrives and wrestles Johnson to the ground. Thomas enters and prevents Johnson from lynching Gabriel by promising to take Gabriel to be tried for assaulting a white man, a capital offense.
Gabriel shares a jail cell with Jack Ditcher, an enslaved ditch-digger. Ditcher goads Gabriel into realizing his rage at the injustices suffered by the enslaved (“Stoke the Fire”). At trial, Judge Hylton (Lucy’s father) agrees to set Gabriel free, requiring Thomas to post a bond to ensure Gabriel’s good behavior for one year. Thomas is enraged at the predicament and the cost of the bond. Back at the plantation, he looks for and finds Gabriel’s life savings of $300, which Thomas will use to pay for the bond. Thomas tells Gabriel that now they are both stuck in Richmond. Thomas reveals to Gabriel that he watched as his own father lynched, not sold, Gabriel’s father. Enraged, Thomas swears to never set Gabriel free.
After Thomas storms out, Nanny arrives, thrilled that Gabriel was not hanged for assaulting Johnson. But Gabriel blames Nanny for his plight. As she turns to leave, Gabriel stops her by confessing his affection for her. He convinces her that the present is all they as slaves can ever be sure of (“Here and Now”). They kiss. The other enslaved see Gabriel and Nanny kissing and begin to celebrate. Gabriel happily announces his plan to marry Nanny, just as Thomas and Lucy arrive. Lucy urges Thomas, per her father's earlier admonition, to exercise strict authority over his slaves. Thomas decides to forbid the marriage and, at Lucy’s provocation, to sell Nanny.
After Thomas and Lucy leave, the enslaved question God leaving them as slaves (“Why, Lord?”). Gabriel snaps and convinces them that they need to raise an army of the enslaved across Virginia to overthrow slavery. They resolve to recruit over the summer and to fight to the death for liberty (“Death or Liberty”). Act One ends with a flash of lightning and ominous thunder.
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ACT TWO begins with Governor James Monroe dictating to a scribe an upcoming speech extolling America's newfound liberty. Meanwhile, Lucy and Thomas make wedding plans as the enslaved secretly make their own plans for the uprising (“Making Plans”). The night of the uprising arrives, but a torrential downpour washes out the bridges and makes it impossible to set the crucial diversionary fire. Ditcher wants to ignore the rain and revolt now, but Gabriel says to wait one day, assuring them that nothing can ultimately stop their path to freedom (“Our Time”). As the rain continues and everyone departs, Gabriel prays for strength ("Help Me Stand") and then beds down with Nanny for the night.
The next morning, Thomas arrives with a musket and confronts Gabriel. He has received an urgent message from Governor James Monroe about the uprising, indicating Prosser’s Gabriel as the leader. A fight between the two men ensues, with Gabriel overpowering Thomas. Gabriel is on the run ("Running"), with everyone looking to Monroe--for the whites--to find Gabriel and--for the enslaved--to have mercy on Gabriel and others who have already been captured. Monroe quiets the furor ("Grace"). Governor Monroe summons Thomas. Lucy accompanies him, hoping to manage the situation. Monroe expresses dismay that Thomas has not interrogated his slaves for more information and threatens Thomas by withholding compensation for Thomas’ executed slaves -- unless Thomas can provide the details surrounding Gabriel’s plot. Thomas later berates Lucy’s plan to help by extracting information from Nanny.
Meanwhile, the enslaved continue to ask why God has seemingly forsaken them ("Why, Lord? (Reprise"). Gabriel and Jack Ditcher await news from Nanny. She arrives and tells them how others have been captured and that his brother Martin and others are to be hanged in two weeks. She urges Gabriel to run away with her, but he explains that he can’t leave their people now (“I Can’t Go (Reprise)”). Ditcher decides to escape to Norfolk. Nanny suggests that the enslaved in Norfolk could possibly be rallied to take up the fight. Gabriel leaves to lead them back to Richmond to secure release of the prisoners before the hanging. He promises to heed Nanny's charge to ultimately confront Monroe with a demand to free Virginia's enslaved ("Running").
Gabriel, trying to get to Norfolk while hunted by the militia, convinces a white river boat captain, who's also a recent convert from enslaver to Christian, to take him along to Norfolk. Upon arrival there, Gabriel is betrayed by one of the enslaved boat hands who believes the reward money will buy his freedom.
Lucy interrogates Nanny (“Give Me an Answer”), insisting that Nanny provide her names of the conspirators. Nanny provides names – the names of all the counties that were ready to take part in the uprising. Lucy is terrified at the scope of the plan and tries to tell Thomas, but he is fed up with her manipulations and slaps her to the ground.
Jailed in Norfolk and waiting for transport back to Richmond to face trial, Gabriel decides to insist on speaking to no one but Governor Monroe and to make a case for the end of slavery (“My Voice”). Meanwhile, back in a Richmond jail cell, Ben tries to explain to Martin his testifying against two dozen conspirators, effectively sending them all, including Martin, to their deaths. For his testimony, Ben will be set free. Martin is taken to the gallows (“Bring Me on Home (Reprise)”), and his soul is received by the Ancestors.
Before Monroe arrives at his study to interrogate Gabriel, Thomas begs Gabriel to provide him details of the plot, but Gabriel refuses, reminding Thomas of his own words promising to free his enslaved people ("Once I'm Free (Reprise)"). Monroe arrives and dismisses Thomas' prattle about which counties were involved in the conspiracy. Monroe asks Gabriel for details of the plan and how the enslaved communicated, even offering Gabriel exoneration and sale elsewhere. But Gabriel uses Monroe's own words from speeches about liberty to try to persuade Monroe to use his influence to end slavery. Given the opportunity to be transported and sold south rather than face the gallows, Gabriel responds that he’d rather die free than continue to live as a slave (“Live Like That”). Enraged by Gabriel’s unwillingness to talk of anything except freedom for the enslaved, Monroe sends Gabriel to the penitentiary to await trial and certain execution.
In a penitentiary holding cell, Ditcher and Nanny await Gabriel’s return from trial. Ditcher is to be sold down south rather than executed, an attempt to mitigate the expense of the executions. Gabriel returns from his trial. He has been sentenced to hang. Ditcher is dejected, but Gabriel encourages both Ditcher and Nanny to spread this story and the hope for freedom to future generations (“Feed the Flame”). Gabriel is suddenly removed from the cell by a guard at Monroe’s direction that no one is to hear Gabriel’s inflaming words any longer. Nanny turns to the audience and is joined by the rest of the cast in encouraging everyone to convey this story and its message of freedom.
Gabriel is working in the Prosser blacksmith shop late at night during a thunderstorm. Thomas Prosser, Jr. enters, and tells Gabriel, his friend since boyhood, of Prosser Senior’s worsening condition from appendicitis. Gabriel reminds Thomas of his plans to someday free all the Prosser slaves and move north to operate a print shop (“Once I’m Free”). Gabriel shares his plan after being set free to join his brother Martin in searching for their father, who Thomas’ father had sold unexpectedly. Thomas is called to his father’s side and asks Gabriel to join him. As Prosser Senior dies, the enslaved sing a spiritual (“Bring Me on Home”). Thomas promises to set Gabriel and Martin free in the morning.
The next morning, Gabriel is working and singing happily in his blacksmith shop (“Goin’ On Up”) until Nanny enters with a broken rake, asking him to fix it. She is clearly hurt that Gabriel hasn’t spoken to her of leaving this morning. Gabriel says he’ll come back for her and buy her freedom someday, but she angrily explains to him that she can’t leave their people behind (“I Can’t Go”). She exits with the repaired rake, leaving Gabriel perplexed.
Thomas’ well-to-do fiancé Lucy Hylton has come to the Prosser plantation to console Thomas, who reveals his plan for them to move north after they marry and for him to own a print shop. Alarmed, Lucy uses various tactics to get Thomas to forego his plan and convinces thim to put off freeing Gabriel for several months.
Outside the house, Delia overhears her sister Nanny fuming to herself about Gabriel. Delia reassures Nanny that Gabriel will return one day to marry her. Nanny insists that she cares nothing for Gabriel (“Nowhere, No-how”). Absalom Johnson, a neighboring white overseer, has heard the women and accuses them of hiding from work. He prepares to beat Nanny when Gabriel arrives and wrestles Johnson to the ground. Thomas enters and prevents Johnson from lynching Gabriel by promising to take Gabriel to be tried for assaulting a white man, a capital offense.
Gabriel shares a jail cell with Jack Ditcher, an enslaved ditch-digger. Ditcher goads Gabriel into realizing his rage at the injustices suffered by the enslaved (“Stoke the Fire”). At trial, Judge Hylton (Lucy’s father) agrees to set Gabriel free, requiring Thomas to post a bond to ensure Gabriel’s good behavior for one year. Thomas is enraged at the predicament and the cost of the bond. Back at the plantation, he looks for and finds Gabriel’s life savings of $300, which Thomas will use to pay for the bond. Thomas tells Gabriel that now they are both stuck in Richmond. Thomas reveals to Gabriel that he watched as his own father lynched, not sold, Gabriel’s father. Enraged, Thomas swears to never set Gabriel free.
After Thomas storms out, Nanny arrives, thrilled that Gabriel was not hanged for assaulting Johnson. But Gabriel blames Nanny for his plight. As she turns to leave, Gabriel stops her by confessing his affection for her. He convinces her that the present is all they as slaves can ever be sure of (“Here and Now”). They kiss. The other enslaved see Gabriel and Nanny kissing and begin to celebrate. Gabriel happily announces his plan to marry Nanny, just as Thomas and Lucy arrive. Lucy urges Thomas, per her father's earlier admonition, to exercise strict authority over his slaves. Thomas decides to forbid the marriage and, at Lucy’s provocation, to sell Nanny.
After Thomas and Lucy leave, the enslaved question God leaving them as slaves (“Why, Lord?”). Gabriel snaps and convinces them that they need to raise an army of the enslaved across Virginia to overthrow slavery. They resolve to recruit over the summer and to fight to the death for liberty (“Death or Liberty”). Act One ends with a flash of lightning and ominous thunder.
__________
ACT TWO begins with Governor James Monroe dictating to a scribe an upcoming speech extolling America's newfound liberty. Meanwhile, Lucy and Thomas make wedding plans as the enslaved secretly make their own plans for the uprising (“Making Plans”). The night of the uprising arrives, but a torrential downpour washes out the bridges and makes it impossible to set the crucial diversionary fire. Ditcher wants to ignore the rain and revolt now, but Gabriel says to wait one day, assuring them that nothing can ultimately stop their path to freedom (“Our Time”). As the rain continues and everyone departs, Gabriel prays for strength ("Help Me Stand") and then beds down with Nanny for the night.
The next morning, Thomas arrives with a musket and confronts Gabriel. He has received an urgent message from Governor James Monroe about the uprising, indicating Prosser’s Gabriel as the leader. A fight between the two men ensues, with Gabriel overpowering Thomas. Gabriel is on the run ("Running"), with everyone looking to Monroe--for the whites--to find Gabriel and--for the enslaved--to have mercy on Gabriel and others who have already been captured. Monroe quiets the furor ("Grace"). Governor Monroe summons Thomas. Lucy accompanies him, hoping to manage the situation. Monroe expresses dismay that Thomas has not interrogated his slaves for more information and threatens Thomas by withholding compensation for Thomas’ executed slaves -- unless Thomas can provide the details surrounding Gabriel’s plot. Thomas later berates Lucy’s plan to help by extracting information from Nanny.
Meanwhile, the enslaved continue to ask why God has seemingly forsaken them ("Why, Lord? (Reprise"). Gabriel and Jack Ditcher await news from Nanny. She arrives and tells them how others have been captured and that his brother Martin and others are to be hanged in two weeks. She urges Gabriel to run away with her, but he explains that he can’t leave their people now (“I Can’t Go (Reprise)”). Ditcher decides to escape to Norfolk. Nanny suggests that the enslaved in Norfolk could possibly be rallied to take up the fight. Gabriel leaves to lead them back to Richmond to secure release of the prisoners before the hanging. He promises to heed Nanny's charge to ultimately confront Monroe with a demand to free Virginia's enslaved ("Running").
Gabriel, trying to get to Norfolk while hunted by the militia, convinces a white river boat captain, who's also a recent convert from enslaver to Christian, to take him along to Norfolk. Upon arrival there, Gabriel is betrayed by one of the enslaved boat hands who believes the reward money will buy his freedom.
Lucy interrogates Nanny (“Give Me an Answer”), insisting that Nanny provide her names of the conspirators. Nanny provides names – the names of all the counties that were ready to take part in the uprising. Lucy is terrified at the scope of the plan and tries to tell Thomas, but he is fed up with her manipulations and slaps her to the ground.
Jailed in Norfolk and waiting for transport back to Richmond to face trial, Gabriel decides to insist on speaking to no one but Governor Monroe and to make a case for the end of slavery (“My Voice”). Meanwhile, back in a Richmond jail cell, Ben tries to explain to Martin his testifying against two dozen conspirators, effectively sending them all, including Martin, to their deaths. For his testimony, Ben will be set free. Martin is taken to the gallows (“Bring Me on Home (Reprise)”), and his soul is received by the Ancestors.
Before Monroe arrives at his study to interrogate Gabriel, Thomas begs Gabriel to provide him details of the plot, but Gabriel refuses, reminding Thomas of his own words promising to free his enslaved people ("Once I'm Free (Reprise)"). Monroe arrives and dismisses Thomas' prattle about which counties were involved in the conspiracy. Monroe asks Gabriel for details of the plan and how the enslaved communicated, even offering Gabriel exoneration and sale elsewhere. But Gabriel uses Monroe's own words from speeches about liberty to try to persuade Monroe to use his influence to end slavery. Given the opportunity to be transported and sold south rather than face the gallows, Gabriel responds that he’d rather die free than continue to live as a slave (“Live Like That”). Enraged by Gabriel’s unwillingness to talk of anything except freedom for the enslaved, Monroe sends Gabriel to the penitentiary to await trial and certain execution.
In a penitentiary holding cell, Ditcher and Nanny await Gabriel’s return from trial. Ditcher is to be sold down south rather than executed, an attempt to mitigate the expense of the executions. Gabriel returns from his trial. He has been sentenced to hang. Ditcher is dejected, but Gabriel encourages both Ditcher and Nanny to spread this story and the hope for freedom to future generations (“Feed the Flame”). Gabriel is suddenly removed from the cell by a guard at Monroe’s direction that no one is to hear Gabriel’s inflaming words any longer. Nanny turns to the audience and is joined by the rest of the cast in encouraging everyone to convey this story and its message of freedom.