Black, White 19th Century Women Writers Come to Life in Play

Bare Bones Theatre invites the public to a reading of The Storehouse, a play about Harriet Beecher Stowe and Harriet Jacobs on Tuesday, March 22 at the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center, 235 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach at 7:30 pm.

An inventive drama about women, race, privilege, and how history is remembered, The Storehouse is based on a true story by Joanna Castle Miller. It contrasts the life experiences of two of America’s earliest female authors: contemporaries Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin) and Harriet Jacobs (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl) as both seek to publish their stories of slavery in the American South.

Co-produced and directed by Lojo Simon, the playreading features actors Ava Burton as Stowe and Veltria Roman as Jacobs. The actors also play multiple other roles. A post-performance discussion about the challenges these women faced in publishing their writing prior to the U.S. Civil War will be led by high school history tutor Cindy Waldman.

Doors open at 7 pm. Seating is limited. $30 general seating and $50 VIP. Click here to purchase tickets.

Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852, depicts the harsh conditions experienced by enslaved African Americans. The book reached an audience of millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and in Great Britain, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North while provoking widespread anger in the South.

Jacobs was born into slavery. Her book is an autobiographical account of her anguished life, during which she thwarted repeated sexual advancements made by her master for years before running away to the North.

This play reading is part of the March Women's History Month at the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center, whose mission is to harness the power of the arts for the benefit of the community. The center is located just off Coast Highway at 235 Forest Avenue, upstairs above the Promenade in Laguna Beach, the heart of Southern California’s premier art colony.