“Day of Absence” by Douglas Turner Ward to be Performed at Hole in the Wall Theater

Douglas Turner Ward’s acclaimed play, “Day of Absence,” is to be performed by New Britain’s Hole in the Wall Theater during July.

The 1965 play is a satire about racism set, the Theater says, in, “an imaginary Southern town where all the black people have suddenly disappeared. The only ones left are sick and lying in hospital beds, refusing to get well. Infants are crying because they are being tended to by strange parents.”

“On a nationwide radio network,” the mayor of the town, the Theater says, “calls on the blacks, wherever they are, to come back. He shows them the cloths with which they wash cars and the brushes with which they shine shoes as sentimental reminders of the goodies that await them.”

In a 2019 review in the Washington Post, Celia Wren wrote that,

Ward conceived the play as a “reverse minstrel show” in which African American actors in whiteface would portray the white townspeople, who are outraged and befuddled by the loss of the workers they had exploited.

Wren noted that Ward’s concept inverted the racist, “minstrel shows — which trafficked in stereotypes that demeaned and lampooned African Americans.”

The website douglasturnerward.com, paying tribute to Ward’s legacy, says that he was,

an actor, playwright and director who co-founded the celebrated Negro Ensemble Company, a New York theater group that supported Black writers and actors at a time when there were few opportunities for them.

The website quotes from a 2021 New York Times article, noting that, in 1966, Ward, “wrote an opinion article in The New York Times with the headline ‘American Theater: For Whites Only?'” in which he called for the creation of an African-American, “repertory company of at least Off-Broadway size and dimension,” to allow opportunity for Black playwrights and actors.

That opinion piece, the New York Times noted, inspired the Ford Foundation to provide a grant allowing Ward and others to create the Negro Ensemble Company, which,

became a training ground for Black actors, playwrights, directors, designers and technicians. Many of the troupe’s actors over the years went on to become stars, among them, in addition to (Denzel) Washington and (Samuel L.) Jackson, Angela Bassett, Louis Gossett Jr. and Phylicia Rashad.

The Hole in the Wall Theater production of the play is directed by Laurie Marie Cabral and produced by George Sebastian Coleman.

The play opens on July 15, 2022 and continues to July 30th.

Tickets for the play are available at the Theater’s tickets web page. General admission, the Theater says, is $25 and, for students and seniors is $20.

“Pay what you can,” showings, the Theater’s says, are July 22 – 24.

The Hole in the Wall Theater says that it, “has been a staple of the New Britain arts community for over 50 years. Through the hundreds of shows we’ve produced, our mission has always been to make theater accessible to everyone.”

“Every one of our members – from our actors, to our directors, to our tech, maintenance, and administrative team – are volunteers,” the Theater has said, asking those interested in volunteering to visit its auditions web page and volunteer web page.

The Theater says that,

If you would like to purchase tickets to one of our upcoming productions, you may either make a reservation with our Box Office at 860-229-3049, or place an order online. For phone reservations, please make sure to leave your name, the date of the performance, number and type of tickets (GA, student, or senior), phone number, as well as your email address so that we can send you a confirmation. Tickets can also be purchased at the door on performance nights with cash or credit card.

The Hole in the Wall Theater is located at 116 Main Street.