Let My People Go!

Helen O'Grady Pretoria and Midrand recently hosted a Cultural performance by an American performing group Evelyn Graves Drama Productions from Philadelphia, USA. Our students and parents were invited to join us for this wonderful opportunity to witness an American performance and interact with the performers after the show. Some of our own Helen O’ Grady students also took to the stage with a few fun Theatre Games to get the audience warmed up and ready for the main attraction.

Evelyn Graves Drama Productions was established in the 1970’s by Evelyn Graves and has been performing ever since. They performed two of their signature plays: “Behold the Man,” a production written by Evelyn Graves that dramatizes the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as  "Let My People Go," a historical dramatic musical presentation dedicated to Black History in commemoration of how God sent Moses to deliver his people, the Israelites, from under the bondage of Pharaoh through song and dance. It depicts the bondage of the Black man and his escape to freedom focusing on Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Park, and other great leaders of the African American rich heritage.

The morning was a huge success ending in a standing ovation for “Let My People Go”. The students and parents loved the whole experience and were moved and entertained, feeling the energy and excitement of a powerful live theatre performance.  

In a previous interview Cassandra Graves, who now heads the production company created by her mother, said “Our motto is ‘the healing arts.’ It heals you when you see a play like this, it grabs you to the very core. The healing arts are so powerful that it heals the performer, and it heals the audience as well. When you see a live performance on stage, and it’s done well, it just touches you and that’s a part of our mission.”

While some productions utilise only the spoken word, Graves described Evelyn Graves Productions as multi-faceted ones, which incorporates music, dance and drama. This, she said, has appealed to its audiences throughout the years.

Dr Cassandra Graves

We also had the privilege of seeing members if the principle cast that’s been part of Evelyn Graves Productions for 10, 20, or 30 years, such as Vance Evans who played the role of Jesus in the production for some 30 years.

“It’s been a blessing ever since, I never thought I’d be playing ‘the man’,” Evans said.

It was such a wonderful learning opportunity for our students to see how to produce a powerful, engaging and entertaining performance with a bare stage, a few costumes and props and the most basic of sound systems (which was in fact a small portable speaker and the piano played on a smart phone). An excellent example of how to create multiple characters per cast member, use music in a performance, powerful and effective voice projection, and the use of a performance space. 

And finally, to top it all, the chance to have conversations with the likes of Vance Evans and the wonderful Cassandra Graves herself added the final hurrah to an unforgettable morning for all, the audience and cast alike. What a wonderful experience to have people from opposite ends of the globe come together and find a common understanding and passion through the performing arts, transcending age, culture and history! #Dramarocks