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UPDATED: Oct. 27, 2020 at 12:17 p.m.

When she was little, Juhanna Rogers dreamed about having her work shown at a community theater and performed multiple times, including at a regional stage. Now, her play “A Gatherin’ Place” aims to celebrate Black women in an authentic way on stage.

Rogers, who wrote and directed “A Gatherin’ Place,” asked the Harriet Tubman Troupe, a group of Black women dedicated to portraying women of color through performance, to write down their own experiences which would be incorporated into the play.

“A Gatherin’ Place” is currently available for streaming on Syracuse Stage’s website until Nov. 1. The production features a group of women who are residents in the same Brooklyn building, with each character telling their own story in the form of monologues. Black women in the central New York community shared their personal stories and helped develop the play’s script.

“I’m most proud of the bravery of the women to stand up and stand in their stories and their experience,” Rogers said. “None of these women are professional actresses, so I’m proud of their commitment. I’m proud of their courage.”

One of the central themes of the play is what it means to be an “unapologetic” Black woman. Courtesy of Syracuse Stage

One of the central themes of the play is what it means to be an “unapologetic” Black woman. Rogers said that it is challenging for Black women to express their emotions in society. With the support of Auburn Public Theater and Syracuse Stage, Rogers and the acting troupe were given a “heavenly opportunity,” she said.

The Harriet Tubman Troupe has performed “A Gatherin’ Place” before, and Joann Yarrow, who is the director of community engagement and education at Syracuse Stage, originally saw the play at Auburn Public Theater and decided to bring it to Syracuse Stage.

“These (monologues) were written not by theater artists, but women in our community, but intelligent, major powerhouse women,” Yarrow said. “These women have taken their experience, their education, and articulated it in an open, amazing way. But most of all it is their courage that I hope students feel empowered by.”

Gwen Webber-McLeod, who is a founding member of the Tubman Troupe, said practicing for the play would sometimes take up to eight hours a day for the Syracuse Stage production of “A Gatherin’ Place.” Black Cub Productions sat in during the performance and filmed the play.

Black Cub Productions sat in during the performance and filmed the play. Courtesy of Syracuse Stage

The play was initially supposed to be online from Oct. 16 to Oct. 25 but extended its availability for streaming due to the interest of viewers, Yarrow said. Professors at Syracuse University even showed interest in showing it in their classrooms.

Webber-McLeod believes it is important to showcase Black women, especially on the stage. She added that “A Gatherin’ Place” is a good space to spark conversations about amplifying Black women’s voices.

“We’re on that grind of trying to survive every single day in our blackness, and all of the related bullsh*t that comes along with that,” Webber-McLeod said. “This was supposed to be performed in this moment in the middle of COVID-19 and all of that is what made it as powerful as it is, and frankly, the most powerful experience I’ve had with this production.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that Joanna Penalva, assistant director of marketing and communications at Syracuse Stage, saw “A Gatherin’ Place” at Auburn Public Theater and decided to bring it to Syracuse Stage. Joann Yarrow, the director of community engagement and education at Syracuse Stage, decided to bring the production to Syracuse Stage after seeing it at Auburn Public Theater. In a previous version of this post, a quote and information from Yarrow were also misattributed. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Published on October 25, 2020 at 11:19 pm