Recorded June 15, 2021
The award-winning book The Age of Phillis by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers works to transform our understanding of 18th century Boston by imagining the life and times of Phillis Wheatley Peters, the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry. Revolutionary Spaces has commissioned a series of short films called Imagining the Age of Phillis, featuring Boston-based actors performing excerpts at the Old South Meeting House and Old State House, sites linked to the poems.
SHORT FILM SERIES
Watch the full series and dive deeper into the life and times of Phillis Wheatley Peters and the poetry of Honorée Fanonne Jeffers.
WATCH NOW →
Directed by John Oluwole ADEkoje and produced by Patrick Gabridge of Plays in Place, these films capture the stories of figures like Wheatley Peters, Crispus Attucks, the first to fall at the Boston Massacre, and Elizabeth Freeman, whose petition for her freedom helped end slavery in Massachusetts. The full collection of films will be available beginning the week of June 7.
This online panel brings together ADEkoje, Jeffers, and Gabridge to discuss the films and the relevance of these Revolutionary-era figures today.
Panelists
- John Oluwole ADEkoje is an award-winning playwright and filmmaker. He recently received the Emerging Filmmaker Award for his feature Knockaround Kids at the Roxbury International Film Festival. ADEkoje is also the co-director and director of photography for the digital version of Hype Man (Company One/American Repertory Theatre), and the writer, director, and projection/art designer for the Triggered Life Project (Portland Playhouse).
- Patrick Gabridge is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter whose work has been read and produced around the world. With his company Plays in Place he creates new site-specific plays in partnership with museums and historic sites, including Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston’s Old State House, Old South Meeting House, and Roosevelt-Campobello International Park.
- Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a Professor of English at University of Oklahoma. Her book The Age of Phillis, based on the life and times of Phillis Wheatley Peters, was long-listed for the 2020 National Book Award in Poetry and won the 2021 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.
This event is generously supported in part by the New England Women’s Club Fund at the Boston Foundation.
Recent Online Events
- VIDEO | Tea Party Tonight! Episode 3
VIDEO: The third episode of our late-night comedy/history talkshow, with host Rob Crean!Read more → - Age of Phillis on Film
JUNE 15: A panel featuring the producer and director of the new short film series Imagining the Age of Phillis, as well as poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, on whose poems the films are based.Read more → - VIDEO | Interpreting the Past Through Comics
A discussion with creators who have used comics and graphic novels to tell complicated and personal histories spanning from World War II to the near-past.Read more → - A New Space for Our Ideals
VIDEO: A discussion about the role Revolutionary-Era sites play as monuments in our society, and how they can lead to conversation about our national values.Read more → - VIDEO | Tea Party Tonight! Episode 2
EP 2: Host Rob Crean returns with guests Tory Bullock, Jacqueline Beatty, a short film by Tawanda Gona, games including Monumental Accessories, The Statue-lor, Boston Versus, a recipe for grog, and more!Read more → - VIDEO | Grief, Remembrance, Justice
An exploration of how our memories of the legendary Boston activist Melnea Cass can help us channel grief into a call for lasting change.Read more → - VIDEO | Attucks and the Birth of a Nation
JAN 27: How William Monroe Trotter, a prominent Black Boston activist, protested the white nationalist film by invoking the memory of Crispus Attucks.Read more → - VIDEO | Difficult Transitions
JAN 13: A lively panel discussion with leading historians exploring some of the most tenuous moments in executive power in our nation’s history.Read more → - VIDEO | Tea Party Tonight! Episode 1
EPISODE 1: Marking the 247th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party with guests William Fowler, Ben Carp, and Chernoh Sesay, games including Boston Nice, Past & Presents, and a drink you’ll absolutely flip for.Read more →