The Cocoonery
| St. Mary's College hosted a special benefit performance of The Cocoonery by playwright and NAACP member Merideth Taylor on April 23. An engaging and informative post-show presentation and discussion was led by genealogy expert and historian Agnes Kane Callum, who was introduced by St. Mary's College professor of anthropology Iris Carter Ford. The performance was well attended and raised $1,410 for the Branch. More information about the play is in the dated announcement below. |
Playwright: Merideth Taylor
Director: Thomas W. Jones II (guest artist)
Bruce Davis Theater, Montgomery Hall Fine Arts Center
on the campus of St. Mary's College of Maryland
April 21-22 and 27-29 at 8:00 p.m.
April 23 and 30 at 2:00 p.m
World premiere of a new script from award-winning playwright and SMCM professor of theater and dance, Merideth Taylor, with direction by Helen Hayes award-winning performer and director, Thomas Jones. Like much of Taylor's work on the African-American experience in St. Mary's County, Maryland (In My Time, Crossroads), The Cocoonery is a compelling and provocative story of St. Mary's rich history. Set during the Civil War at the County's poorhouse (a.k.a. the Cocoonery), the play explores the chaotic social upheaval that follows the “Northern Invasion” as countians struggle to recover from economic ruin and to redefine their personal, social, and political identities. The place of the Cocoonery, a vividly imaginative and magical scene, becomes a microcosm for the internecine conflict at the national level and reveals an American story not to be ignored, except at the risk of our own peril.
Special Performance - Sunday April 23
The Sunday, April 23 performance is a benefit for the local branch of the NAACP. SMCM Professor of Anthropology Iris Carter Ford will facilitate a discussion after the performance. Local history scholar and acclaimed expert on Maryland's Colored Troops, Agnes Kane Callum, will join Ford to respond to the play and help depict the local scene during the Civil War.
Agnes Kane Callum is a researcher, writer, and lecturer in United States Colored Troops and Black Genealogy. Among her publications are her books Colored Volunteers of Maryland, 7th Regiment United States Colored Troops 1863 - 1866, Bounty Records of the 9th Regiment United States Colored Troops 1863 - 1866, and History of the 9th Regiment United States Colored Troops Volunteers of Maryland, Civil War 1863 - 1866. She has a B.A. and M.S. from Morgan State University, and she did graduate studies at the University of Ghana under a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship.
The production of The Cocoonery is funded in part by a generous grant from the Arts Alliance of St. Mary's College of Maryland.
