Octavia E. Butler’s modern-classic science-fiction novel Parable of the Sower focuses on a hyper-empathetic young woman who becomes a messianic figure in a society laid low by corporate greed, environmental destruction, systemic racism, wealth inequality, and other all-too-familiar ills.
The singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon (now one of the artists-in-residence in Carolina Performing Arts’ Creative Futures program) and her mother, Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock fame, teamed up to turn the book into a fully staged folk opera infused with centuries of Black music, from rock and country to R&B and gospel.
It was the most unforgettable show of Carolina Performing Arts’ 2017-18 season; Memorial Hall has seldom felt as welcoming and alive as it did that night. So it’s great news that CPA has arranged to stream—for one time only—a concert version of the show that was filmed in 2015 at the The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi.
The concert will be streamed at noon EST on Friday, May 15, via Carolina Performing Arts’ Facebook page and website. Following the film, Toshi Reagon and cast member Helga Davis will join in for a live conversation, moderated by UNC professor and N.C. Environmental Justice Network board chair Danielle Purifoy.
Contact arts and culture editor Brian Howe at bhowe@indyweek.com.
