Dianne Smith  Art   

The Vicksburg Project, presented by Harlem Stage, produced by Mabou Mines and piece by piece productions, is created by Eve Beglarian, Mallory Catlett and Karen Kandel traces the experiences of women and gender-expansive people in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a small city pivotal to the painful history of our country. How can we speak honestly about what happened in this place that haunts us still? The texts of The Vicksburg Project are constructed from historical diary entries, letters home, newspaper accounts, live interviews, and original writing by Karen Kandel as well as poetry by June Jordan, Thylias Moss, and Lucille Clifton. These materials are spun into intimate songs and confessions inspired by everything from parlor music of the 1860s to traditional blues of the 1920s to freedom songs of the 1960s, and from Wagnerian lushness to solo uke strumming to a capella chant. The Vicksburg Project resurrects deeply researched stories from the Civil War, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement, and integrates the creators’ own experiences as women — black and white, straight and gay, the descendants of enslavers and the enslaved. The Vicksburg Projectacknowledges the humanity in every person’s story. Costume designed by Dianne Smith.