Long Wharf Will Present A Special ‘Amistad’ Reading

NEW HAVEN — Long Wharf Theatre will present a staged reading of Waiting for Justice: The Trials of the Amistad, written and directed by Will MacAdams, as the final event of Amistad America’s Home Port Celebration Weekend on Sunday, July 16, at 7 pm.

The compelling new play is a historical enactment that includes excerpts from the Amistad trails court transcripts, and will be performed by several members of the New Haven community. The free reading will take place on Long Wharf Theatre’s Mainstage, followed immediately by a post-show discussion.

In 1839, 53 Africans who had been illegally captured led a revolt aboard the Cuban schooner Amistad. After drifting up the Atlantic coast, the ship was seized by the United States Coast Guard off the coast of Long Island and brought to Connecticut, where the Africans were imprisoned.

While American abolitionists, the Spanish government and the Van Buren administration argued the complicated legal issues in court, the imprisoned Africans were forced to wait two years before they were granted their freedom. Waiting for Justice is a powerful historical enactment that illustrates the struggle for freedom and the frustration of having one’s fate in the hands of another.

Long Wharf Theatre is a professional not-for-profit regional theatre at 222 Sargent Drive, just off I-95 Exit 46, a quarter-mile from the intersection of I-95, I-91 and Route 34. Long Wharf provides free lighted parking and is accessible to patrons with disabilities. Call 203/787-4284 for additional information.