By Sandra Baltazar Martinez

After enduring the atrocities of enslavement for 33 years, culminating with the sale of his wife and three children by their slaveholder, Henry “Box” Brown resolves to free himself by any means available. In his case, it meant mailing himself from Virginia to Philadelphia.

With the help of friends and abolitionists, Brown formulated the plan for his escape to freedom by having himself nailed in a box roughly 3 feet long by 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide. In this manner for 27 hours in 1849 he was transported from a state that believed in the enslavement of people of African descent to one that believed in their freedom.

The escape and Brown’s life’s work as an abolitionist and performer (as a magician for some time), is the subject of “Blackbox,” a play at UC Riverside set for October 5-14 at the campus’ University Theatre. The performance is an epic poem with magic and gospel, adapted by Rickerby Hinds, professor of playwriting in UCR’s Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production.

Hinds is offering Inland Empire audiences the opportunity to see this compelling moment in American history through his play, which has been commissioned by Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., as part of its inaugural Lincoln Legacy Commissions for the 2024-25 season.

“A re-envisioning of the box in which Henry spent 27 hours on his way to freedom … allows me to address some of the horrors of Henry’s life in a ‘spectacular’ way,” Hinds said.

The play premieres at UCR, a place that for Hinds holds personal significance.

“The importance of premiering Blackbox at UCR, on the very stage where I wrote and directed my first play, cannot be overstated,” Hinds said. “I am a playwright and professor because of UCR. The University Theatre is where I discovered my passion for the stage and the page.”

Hinds learned of Brown’s story many years back and first made a reference to it in his play “Straight From Tha Underground” in 1998.

“Henry Box Brown’s story as told in his narratives is naturally dramatic with compelling subtextual commentary on the American institution of slavery as well as the distorted use of Christianity and religion as a tool for the oppression of millions of human beings… who happen to look like me,” Hinds said.

Hinds envisions “Blackbox” at Ford’s Theatre, Broadway, and then on tour.

“BlackBox” is directed by Thomas F. DeFrantz. Scenic design is by Christopher Scott Murillo; costume design by Landis Maren York; lighting design by Ben Tusher; sound design by Jeremiah Turner; music directed by Jasmine Gatewood; video design by Fallon Williams; magic consultant is Naathan Phan.