From Podium Audio comes a new feature-length audio play titled Wake, out now exclusively on Audible. Wake is “an imaginative tour-de-force” that chronicles the story of women-led slave revolts and scholar Dr. Rebecca Hall‘s journey to learn the truth about the powerful women whose history has been excluded. It was originally published as a graphic novel-style memoir written by Dr. Hall and illustrated by Hugo Martinez. It was named one of the Best Books of 2021 by NPR.
Playwright and television writer Tyler English-Beckwith wrote the adaptation. The audio play stars DeWanda Wise, Chanté Adams, Jerrie Johnson, Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù, Katherine McNamara, Bahni Turpin, Rhian Rees, Karen Malina White, Román Zaragoza, Alex Ubokudom, John Clarence Stewart, Blake Cooper Griffin, Tim DeKay, Kate Steele, André Sogliuzzo, and Matthew Wolf.
The full synopsis, per Podium Audio, reads:
“Women warriors planned and led slave revolts on slave ships during the Middle Passage. They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas, and then they were erased from history. Wake tells the story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always said that enslaved women were not involved, but Rebecca decides to look deeper. Her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captains’ logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the ‘negro burying ground’ uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
The ‘story behind the story,’ this audio play delves into Dr. Hall’s stint as both a law school, then high school professor: poignant classroom scenes give voice to young minds grappling with the complexities of history, living in the wake of the trauma of slavery, and awakening to a new appreciation for the power of resistance. Historical vignettes from the graphic novel are deftly interwoven and underpin the entire narrative, transporting the listener from past to present through music and sound thematics by Jace Clayton (a.k.a. DJ/rupture).”
Wake is available now exclusively on Audible.
