The House that will not stand

The House that will not Stand, by Marcus Gardley, is a play about power, freedom, and how you cannot gain one without the other. The play follows 24 hours in the lives of a family of free women of color directly after the loss of their father who is also their mother’s white enslaver. The play is set in New Orleans directly after the Louisiana purchase. The uncertainty surrounding their role in this new country coupled with the loss of the only person with the power to protect them throws these women into a state of uncertainty. Power shows itself in this play as Beartrice, the matriarch, imposes the full weight of her power over her daughters and their enslaved worker, Makeda. At the same time the oppressive power of white American history imposes its full weight upon her. It threatens to take everything from her in this pivotal moment in history. The scenic design strives to express the claustrophobic weight of that power by drawing upon the feeling of heavy creole mourning rituals in the heat of a late New Orleans summer.

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Director: Nicole Watson, Scenic: Carrie Ferrelli, Costumes: Margo Birdwhistell, Lighting: Helen Garcia Alton, Sound: Chandler Oppenheimer​

By Marcus Gardley