What’s it like to be the first? Decades before the Emancipation Proclamation, John Newton Templeton, an ex-slave, is the first African-American to attend Ohio University. The college’s president, Robert Wilson, an avowed abolitionist, has big plans for him. But the president’s wife is more skeptical: As a woman, she is not permitted to study at the college. And Templeton, unexpectedly, has ideas of his own about the future. Winner of a Jeff Award for Best New Work, FREE MAN OF COLOR is a provocative meditation on race and responsibility, based on historical events, about who we are and where we came from. New York premiere.

RAVES FOR "FREE MAN OF COLOR"

"A thought-provoking look at
the roles of race and gender,
seen through the life of an ex-slave."
As a piece of theater, FREE MAN OF COLOR delivers on the promise of a tale well told."
--The Journal News

"Provocative and emotionally charged.
Sheldon Best is excellent.
Tom Frey's performance is flawless.
Emma O'Donnell is superb."
--The Times Herald Record