Twenty years ago my husband
Ralph and I wrote a musical about the early Women’s Rights movement in the
1850’s. Because the issue of slavery was an important feature in the story, in
one rewrite I added the character of Harriet Tubman. About ten years ago, when
we were living in Staten Island, I read an amazing book by a woman who had
actually interviewed Harriet when she was living in Auburn, New York after the
Civil War. Ralph and I had received a number of grants from the Staten Island
Arts Council to write and produce musicals and I now felt inspired to write a
new work based on Harriet’s actual words. However, in a meeting with the
African American Grants Director, Ben Jacobs, I expressed my hesitation over
tackling this Harriet Tubman project. I said, “As a white woman, I don’t feel I have the right to be writing about the
greatest African American woman in history.” Ben looked at me with eyebrows
raised and said bluntly: “Get over it!”
So I went home and started the play that very day, handed it in at the last
minute, and two months later was awarded a $2,000 grant to write and direct “Harriet Tubman Herself.”
It started as a two-person
play with myself, as Sarah Bradford, interviewing Harriet with questions taken
directly from the book. My choice of an actress for Harriet
was Christine Dixon, whose work I knew. When Christine performed in our
interactive Christmas musical, “Santa
Claus is Missing” she portrayed Dasher, the lead reindeer, who gathered
children from the audience to come up as reindeer and help her draw Santa’s
sleigh. I had observed how she dealt with shy or belligerent or confused little
ones She always calmed them by her uncanny ability to be natural and persuasive
so they trusted her and believed in her. I wanted my Harriet to be a real human
being, not a waxworks impersonation of someone we never really met. I knew
Christine had that special ability, she was not only a brilliant actress and
singer, but she was there, totally there, in every sense of the word.
Having been a Broadway critic
and seen a number of The Greats in performance I have always observed that
acting is not ‘acting’ but ‘being’ so when you are watching a great
performer you don’t think ‘Wow, he or she
is really good!’ In fact you don’t think at all. You know this is
the real thing with no affectation or falsity. You forget you are watching an
actor because you are seeing a real person. My knowledge and instincts told me
this was Christine’s special ability so I wrote the play, with gospel songs and spirituals, specifically for her.
Ralph wrote a number of songs
to add to the more famous spirituals and we started performing at the local
libraries. After a few months of embracing the material, and observing how well
it worked, the artistic director of Staten Island’s Sundog Theatre, Susan
Fenley, saw it as perfect for their School performance series. With my
agreement, Susan worked with Christine to make it into a totally one-woman show
and the race was on. Schools, Community Centers and Senior centers throughout
the New York area welcomed Christine to come there as Harriet all year long.
This grew into an annual tour along the East Coast and, for the past 8 years, Christine,
as Harriet Tubman herself, has been engaging audiences from Harriet’s home in
upstate New York, down through New York, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina even
into the Caribbean. As of today, with over 326 actual performances we can now
count the 310 standing ovations she has received at every show.
Years from now people will be
saying, “Did you ever see Christine Dixon
as Harriet Tubman?” And thousands of people, not only African Americans,
will remember it well because when they were a child the real Harriet Tubman came
to their church or school and made them realize what a great person is really
like. With Christine they met a living, breathing woman who maybe shook their
hand or bump-fisted them, and even drew them up to the stage where she led them
to freedom. Whether Harriet Tubman’s picture appears on a stamp, a twenty-dollar
bill, or as a distant moving image on a movie screen, they know they had the
greatest privilege. Because they met Harriet, touched her, saw her tears and
her laughter, her courage and her determination, and saw how much she loved her
people, her family, and best of all, how she loved them too.
Christine takes her performance
right into the audience so she is present at that moment with them and it has
to be experienced to truly appreciate. Christine Dixon is a great actress but,
as Harriet Tubman, she transcends the technique of acting when she channels
Harriet Tubman at the exact moment in time as her performing. With rowdy teens
she is a scolding momma, with little ones she is the cuddling adult that loves
them unreservedly, with adults she is the challenging force that awakens their
instinct for play while strengthening their awe and admiration for this acknowledged
icon. Yes, it’s Harriet Tubman in person and everyone who cares
for humanity needs to be encouraged by this informal but informative hour with
Harriet Tubman Herself!http://igg.me/at/pxbdjuQCstI/x/117614
Morna Murphy Martell
Hollywood, CA
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