Fri 10/14-Sat 11/5

Tremont’s small theater ensemble convergence-continuum has always had a taste for darkly humorous material with a surreal vibe, but recently for its current season, themed “Societies in Question,” its productions have gotten weightier while still holding on to the surrealistic feel.

Its upcoming production, Robert O’Hara’s 1996 Insurrection: Holding History, bites off quite a mouthful.  It’s been described as “Roots meets the Wizard of Oz” and it crosses generations and centuries to connect the racism of slavery with the racism of today and how perceptions change with the person telling the story.

In it a gay (that always seems to find its way into a c-c production!) black Columbia student, struggling with his graduate thesis on slavery, attends a family reunion where his 189-year-old great-great-grandfather persuades him to go back with him to 1831 Virginia where they encounter Nat Turner. There’s still the surreal humor much beloved by c-c but there’s a sobering side to the script as well.

The production opens Friday October 14 and runs through November 5 at c-c’s home the Liminis, Thursday-Saturday @8pm. Tickets are $23, $18 for senior and students. Get them at convergence-continuum.