Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
The Theatre Arts Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University tackles the true story of the Tuskegee Syphilis medical research atrocity, conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Center for Disease Control, in the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, Miss Evers’ Boys.
Miss. Evers’ Boys, directed by Xulee Vanecia J, is based on the true story of the four-decade-long Tuskegee Syphilis Research Study. David Feldshuh’s play chronicles the story of how the U.S. government withheld treatment for 40 years from a group of African American men who were poor and mostly uneducated Alabama tenant farmers infected with syphilis to study the course of the disease. At the center of the production is Miss. Evers, an African American nurse who convinces the men to join the study, promising hot meals, burial stipends, tonics and vitamins. When the study money runs out, Evers is faced with a difficult decision: tell the men the truth. They are no longer being treated, and now they are part of a research study to see what untreated syphilis will do to them. Or follow the lead of the doctor she respects and tell the men nothing. Evers follows the advice of the medical and research team and says nothing, with the assurance that as soon as medication becomes available to cure them, her men will be the first to receive it. But after fourteen years of caring for her patients as if they were family when medication is finally available, it is denied to her study group. Evers is devastated at the news and, starting to watch her men die, she can no longer keep silent.
“Directing Miss. Evers Boys has been a sobering and life-changing experience. So many people came into this process not knowing what happened in Tuskegee all those years ago. We are educating our community and sparking the important conversations that need to be had around health, equity and inclusion. My true hope is that people will leave this show, willing and ready to ask the necessary questions in their own lives, surrounding their health and human rights,” stated the director, Xulee Vanecia J.
This compelling drama unearths one of the most horrible research atrocities in America. Audiences will experience the best and worst of humanity as the characters grapple with prejudice, power, and the ethical responsibility of the medical community to whom they serve.
These performances will take place at the Paul Robeson Theatre on A&T’s campus. Admission is $17 for adults, $11 for senior citizens and non-A&T students, and $6 for children 12 and younger. A&T students receive free admission with their Aggie One Card. The performance dates and times are:
Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m.
To purchase tickets, call 336.334.7749 or visit https://itzy.io/meb. For Group Rates, call (336) 285.3499.
