PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When you think about the Civil War and Emancipation, does Greek poetry come to mind?
“Father Comes Home From the Wars” runs at Quintessence Theater in Mount Airy through June 23. It’s a play inspired by Homer’s “The Odyssey” that follows a Black man called “Hero” through his journey from a Texas plantation to the Civil War battlefront and back home.
And, as director Raelle Myrick-Hodges tells us, it ends on what we now know as Juneteenth.
“It is an epic adventure with humor, irony, sadness, beauty, love, and a series of the hues of what it is to be a participant in American history,” she said.
The play is told in three parts — the first, Myrick-Hodges says, is “the idea of what it is to be at home and have to leave.” The second, “what you do when you leave home, which is being in the Civil War itself, and then the third part being a return to home.”
She says the play examines our history and the meaning of home and freedom.
“This idea of the desire to be home … What is true love? What is revenge? What is betrayal? What is loyalty? What is too much loyalty?”
While Myrick-Hodges has done work around the country, she launched her career here as an apprentice at the Arden Theatre and later founded Azuka Theatre. She says her relationship with Philly is steadfast and she’s happy to return to direct “Father Comes Home From the Wars,” written by her mentor, Suzan-Lori Parks.
“[Parks’] work is for everybody because she sees Black people as gods. … It is timeless, it is challenging, and it is meant for discourse,” she said.
For tickets and more information, visit quintessencetheatre.org.