Christianity of slave and slave holder clash in this passionate fictionalized account of an 1822 slave conspiracy plotted from within a Black church in Charleston, SC. Look What A Wonder Jesus Has Done, a folk opera with fiery gospel voices, dramatizes epic motifs of freedom, romance, and betrayal inextricably entangled across slavery's racial divide.
Taken from the name of a Negro spiritual, Look What A Wonder Jesus Has Done takes place in early 19th century Charleston, South Carolina, and unveils a dual face of American Christianity, contrasted by White slave holder and Black slave.
Loosely based on the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1822, which was plotted from the first independent Black church in Charleston, this raw, passionate ‘gospel folk opera’ dramatizes love and freedom, forged in an Antebellum cauldron where Black and White characters are both twisted and captured by King Cotton’s demands.
As a slave, Denmark Vesey came of age as a personal servant to a slave ship captain in the Middle Passage, and was a sympathetic witness but forced collaborator in the worst horrors of slavery. When we meet him as am adult free Black man in Charleston, Denmark is haunted by his past and tormented by the plight of his enslaved wife and children.
Two dreams drive him forward: to buy his family's freedom and to establish the first independent black church in Charleston, where his community can worship freely with its own spiritual voice. Denmark's dreams are shattered when his new church is closed by the Charleston police -- its worshipers beaten and its walls demolished – and his only daughter is abducted by slave traders. He now faces his most difficult decision: will he escape to the safety of the North with what is left of his family, or stay and risk everything to lead a rebellion against his oppressors?
Denmark's conflicts set the stage for passionate gospel refrains echoed by a Black community committed to liberation; soulful love duets between a husband and wife separated by slavery; and intimate children's songs underscore the heart-wrenching perspectives of slavery's most vulnerable and courageous voices.
Look What A Wonder Jesus Has Done translates the pathos of slavery into the story of one leader's struggle for personal redemption and collective justice.
“I believe that Look What A Wonder will be a significant and important break-through for music in America and for all who care for an understanding of Black people and White people, our shared past and shared destiny.”
The late William Styron, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Nat Turner and Sophie’s Choice in a letter to composer/lyricist Walter Robinson
“A story. . .that needs to be told and retold to our children and to all Americans.”
Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, Joseph Papp Public Theater
