Image courtesy Firehouse Theatre
The developmental premiere of “Out the Mud” takes the Firehouse Theatre stage March 11-29. Playwright Kristen Adele Calhoun imagines the first Juneteenth in 1865 Texas, where a newly freed couple must make a difficult choice to leave the only place they’ve ever known or stay and continue working for the family who formerly held ownership over them.
“It’s a powerful story from a side of history we don’t hear from very often,” says Montrece Hill, Firehouse communications manager.
The lead is played by Katrinah Carol Lewis, associate artistic director of Firehouse. The theater has also partnered with the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and Richmond Planet Foundation to commission Calhoun to write an original play about the late John Mitchell Jr., the “fighting editor” of the former Richmond Planet newspaper, which is set to debut next year.
Tickets are $40.