The historian group Remembering Black Dallas (RBD) is bringing eight prominent Black Dallasites back to life with Living Museum, a docudrama that blends research and performance to honor the city's Black legacy.
“It's not a play that looks down on any race or group of people,” director Selmore Haines said. “It just celebrates the accomplishments of African Americans. And that should be maintained and should be celebrated.”
The show highlights prominent figures such as Texas’ first Black dentist, Marcellus Cooper, civil rights activist George Porter and educator Fannie C. Harris. Most of the featured figures were living in the late 19th century; some were born slaves. The audience will get to go through their powerful storylines and obstacles they overcame.
“If you would imagine going to a wax museum and seeing a display of a certain character, imagine that character comes to life before your eyes and tells their story,” Haines said.
This marks the second premiere of Living Museum, which Remembering Black Dallas founder George Keaton first developed in 2020 as a research project to help RBD members learn more about key figures from the city’s Black history. Keaton wrote monologues from the perspective of historical figures and asked Haines to perform them at the end of RBD’s Ukunika bus tours through Dallas.
The project evolved into a stage production after Keaton envisioned using theater to portray multiple historical figures in one setting. He compiled all six written monologues and held the first showing in the South Dallas Cultural Center’s 110-seat black box theater, where it sold out for two nights in a row.
Keaton died in 2022. Remembering Black Dallas is reviving the show at the Dallas College’s Mountain View Performance Hall in an effort to combat the erasure of Black history. Haines said he hopes young people will attend to strengthen the foundation of their history.
“One of the lines in the play says, if we don't know where we come from, we don't really have a clear path on where we're going,” Haines said.
Details
Aug 15-16 at Dallas College Mountain View Campus Performance Hall, 4849 W. Illinois Ave. $20 for adults, $10 for kids under 18. www.rememberingblackdallas.org
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