Charles Johnson’s ‘Rutherford’s Travels’ arrives in Chicago

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Charles Johnson | YOUTUBE

In an interview with American Theatre, author and MacArthur Fellow Charles Johnson discusses “Rutherford’s Travels,” the new stage adaptation of his novel “Middle Passage,” which winds its way to Chicago in a world premiere production at Pegasus Theatre Chicago (1105 W. Chicago) Nov. 2-Dec. 4. The play is directed by Ilesa Duncan, based on her co-adaptation with David Barr III, with choreography by Nicole Clarke-Springer, and music by Shawn Wallace.

“Rutherford’s Travels” at Pegasus Theatre Chicago

“Rutherford’s Travels” at Pegasus Theatre Chicago

“The novel tells the story of Rutherford Calhoun, a freed slave from pre-Civil War New Orleans who unknowingly boards an illegal slave ship bound for Africa and witnesses the capture and enslavement of the (fictional) Allmuseri tribe of West Africa,” the story states.

In the Q&A, Johnson reveals: “One of the things about ‘Middle Passage’ that I think makes it work as a story are the ideas embodied in the action. They don’t come at you just through the dialogue — the ideas are embodied in concrete things, like the ship and the sea. The sea is the Buddhist void. The ship, the Republic, is this republic that we live in. The book is heavy on metaphor, and the various real concrete things in it actually body forth the ideas.” Read the full story here.

Johnson is scheduled to attend the Chicago premiere

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