“Boardin’ Time” Challenges Audience To Forge Path To End Divisions

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There comes a time in everyone’s lives when they find themselves at a crossroads. One fork in the road is the complacency route; the other route — likely the more challenging route — is the journey to change one’s situation or circumstance. In Angela Wilson’s family, this moment is known as “boardin’ time.” It’s time to let the train leave the station without you, or it’s time to move, to climb aboard to change.

Wilson is the author of “Boardin’ Time,” which will be performed at the Chesapeake Arts Center on Saturday, February 4. She wrote the story in just two days in 2013. Set in the 1850s, when racial struggles divided America, Wilson’s story is one of love, faith, hope and courage.

“As generations get further away from these events, I think it’s important to still tell the story in unique ways,” said Wilson. “There are many movies and stories about slavery, but for some reason, this family and their struggle came to my mind.”

“Boardin’ Time” is centered on an enslaved black family deeply committed to advancing social justice. “This could have been my family,” Wilson said. “The thoughts were pouring out of me, and I could see this family as they developed. I wanted to show them changing their circumstances – thus the name ‘Boardin’ Time.’ It’s time to move, to change.”

Though the story is set in the tumultuous years leading up to the American Civil War, the context of the story is as relevant in 2017 as it was then.

“There were lots of people who were against slavery and many of them were white. The Quakers in the play represent that you can’t sit on one side of a problem,” said Wilson. “Right now, there is so much going on in our communities and we can’t sit back and take sides and point fingers, but we have to do our part and find out how to become part of a solution. We have to help each other. It is important to me to show what people can accomplish when they work together.”

Wilson said the audience will see connections between the period of the story and today, though she never set out to make a political statement of racial tensions in the United States today when she wrote the story four years ago.

“Real change has to affect us on a deep level, and not just to publicly appear to be doing what’s right or because someone is forced to do the right thing,” said Wilson. “The hatred, the bigotry, the divisiveness that existed in the 1850s has gone through various iterations, but we would have to be blind to say it doesn’t still exist in its current form.”

Bringing that message to life is a talented cast of actors that took their roles seriously.

“For me, I was never interested in playing roles like this because I never wanted to have to really get into the mindset I would need in order to make the character real,” said Carolyn Robinson, who plays the lead role of the family matriarch, Cassie. “But this role forced me to think about that time in our country in a real way and not just that time period, but the actual people, my ancestors who lived it. I wanted to be able to do those people justice and make this as real as I could for the audiences of today.”

Quincy Vicks plays the headstrong oldest son of Cassie and her husband, Jo. “It was important for me to be a part of this production because I really wanted to help tell the story to the audience of what our ancestors had gone through,” said Vicks. “For me, there is no better way to tell a story than through performance theater.”

Wilson said one of her favorite aspects of coordinating the play was seeing how those actors interpreted the characters. “Many times, they become more than you even envisioned,” noted Wilson. “It is fun, nerve-wracking and exhilarating all at the same time. This cast has done an amazing job at developing these characters into believable figures. I’m so impressed with them all.

“I want the audience to be inspired by the courage of this family and the people helping them to change their circumstances,” she added. “I want people to look at their life and ask themselves, ‘Is it Boardin’ Time for me? Where have I lost hope, and what am I willing to do to change?’ Then make up their minds and go out and do it.”

Wilson also is the founder and president of the AngelWing Project Inc., a nonprofit theatrical organization.

“I do this because I want to use my voice to tell stories, important ones,” said Wilson. “Stories of hope and healing, stories that make people laugh, cry and reflect.”

For tickets or information about “Boardin’ Time,” call the Chesapeake Arts Center at 410-636-6597 or visit www.chesapeakearts.org.

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