Nat Turner in Jerusalem

In August 1831, Nat Turner led a slave uprising that shook the conscience of the nation. Turner’s startling account of the prophecy that guided him and the insurrection he led was recorded and published by attorney Thomas R. Gray. Nathan Alan Davis’ (Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea) play imagines Turner’s final night in a jail cell in Jerusalem, Virginia, as he is revisited by Gray and they reckon with what has passed and what the dawn will bring. Woven with vivid imagery and indelible lyricism, Nat Turner in Jerusalem examines the power of an individual’s resolute convictions and their seismic reverberations through time.

Nat Turner in Jerusalem will be directed by José Carrasquillo, whose most recent credits include El Paso Blue at Gala Hispanic Theatre and Sotto Voce at Theatre J.  Nat Turner will be played by Forum ensemble member and Helen Hayes award winner Jon Hudson Odom, most recently seen in An Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth. Thomas R. Gray will be played by Helen Hayes nominee Joseph Carlson.