The Old South AFTER Reconstruction

New Book by Naomi Mitchel Carrer

Go Down Old Hannah published by the University of Texas Press

"Go Down Old Hannah, well, well, well!

Doncha rise no more.

If you rise in the mornin',

Bring Judgment Day."

—Traditional prison camp work song by Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter

A book of fifteen plays

about Texas

after Reconstruction. Historical Plays about Real People

The fifteen living history plays in this collection were commissioned by museums and historic sites in Texas to show the interdependence of African American experiences and contributions to the living history of Texas. The plays cover subject matter ranging from slave celebrations, family breakups, and running away, to the Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction. Each play is research based and performed by Talking Back Living History Theatre as a festival production. These scripts are easily performed, and author Naomi Mitchell Carrier has included production notes in the overviews that precede each play. Lesson plans are also included, which add to the collection's appeal as a classroom tool.

Living history is a style of instructive and entertaining performance that seeks to bring history to life with the use of costumes, tools, and reenactments appropriate to a specific time period. Done well, living history performances illuminate human experience in powerful, unforgettable ways.

link to excerpt

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"Go down old Hannah" Blues song as performed by Leadbelly (Huddie William Ledbetter January 1888 December 6, 1949) The song is about prisoners working in the fields...

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