Invitation Only
A REFUTATION - Johns Hopkins Hospital
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A REFUTATION presents dramatic readings by acclaimed actors of excerpts from two conflicting historic accounts of Philadelphia’s 1793 yellow fever epidemic as a catalyst for guided audience discussions about health inequities in America today, grounded in the perspectives of nurses, caregivers, and first responders.
Featuring pamphlets, letters, and rebuttals by Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Matthew Carey, and Benjamin Rush, performed by Chad Coleman (The Wire, The Orville, The Walking Dead), Seth Gilliam (The Wire, The Walking Dead, Oz), Bill Camp (Presumed Innocent, 12 Years a Slave, The Queen’s Gambit), and Peter Marks (former Chief Theater Critic of the Washington Post).
A REFUTATION was developed with generous support from The Greenwall Foundation in celebration of its 75th anniversary.
Presented by Theater of War Productions, Union Memorial United Methodist Church, Ebenezer United Methodist Church – Capitol Hill, the JH Center for Medical Humanities and Social Medicine, the JH Program in Arts, Humanities, & Health, the JH Berman Institute of Bioethics, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, and the Resilient Nurses Initiative - Maryland.
Directed, adapted, and facilitated by Bryan Doerries.
All of Theater of War Productions' events follow the same format:
- The performers will read the texts.
- Community panelists will kick off the discussion with their gut responses to what resonated with them across time.
- We will open the discussion to the audience, facilitated by Bryan Doerries.
About the plays
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A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia, in the Year 1793, and A REFUTATION of Some Censures, Thrown upon Them in Some Late Publications by Absalom Jones (1746 – 1818) and Richard Allen (1760 – 1831)
A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia, in the Year 1793, and A REFUTATION of Some Censures, Thrown upon Them in Some Late Publications, by Absalom Jones (1746 – 1818) and Richard Allen (1760 – 1831), highly distinguished civic and religious leaders from Philadelphia’s free Black community, was the first publication by Black authors to receive a federal copyright in the United States. Both men were born into slavery, purchased their freedom, and rose to become the important leaders in the nation’s largest free Black community. Jones was the nation’s first Black Episcopal priest, and Allen founded Bethel Church, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal congregation in the nation. Their pamphlet is the only depiction of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic that foregrounds the perspectives and experiences of Black people and the first known text to express Black community anger and directly challenge accusations and libelous statements by a white author. It had a print run of 250-500 copies.
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A Short Account of the Malignant Fever, Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia, With a Statement of the Proceedings That Took Place on the Subject in Different Parts of the United States by Matthew Carey (1760 -1839)
A Short Account of the Malignant Fever, Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia, With a Statement of the Proceedings That Took Place on the Subject in Different Parts of the United States, by Matthew Carey (1760 -1839), an Irish immigrant and the nation’s most preeminent publisher at the time, was a runaway success. Roughly 10,000 copies of the pamphlet were sold in four editions over the span of two months. The pamphlet made distorted, racist claims about Black nurses, care givers, and first responders during the height of the epidemic, prompting Absalom Jones and Richard Allen to publish a rebuttal seven weeks after its first print run.
Cast Members
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Seth Gilliam
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Bill Camp
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Chad Coleman
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Peter Marks
Explore Projects
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GenocideThe InvestigationTheater of War Productions and the Museum of Jewish Heritage, in partnership with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, present readings of scenes Peter Weiss' play The Investigation, a piece of documentary theater adapted from the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963-1965. This project centers on guided discussions about mass murder and its lasting impact upon individuals, families, communities, and countries throughout the world. Performed by a diverse cast, including international performers from communities affected by genocide, The Investigation seeks to generate powerful dialogue across cultures and communities about the human capacity for evil, as well as the systems and hierarchies that create the conditions for unthinkable violence.
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Gun ViolenceHerculesDrawing from an ancient Greek tragedy about a vicious act of violence committed by an angry man with an invincible weapon, this project aims to generate powerful dialogue between concerned citizens, members of the law enforcement community, victims and perpetrators of gun violence, and the general public.
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Pandemic & Climate CrisisAn Enemy of The PeopleAn Enemy of the People presents acclaimed actors, public health leaders, scientists, journalists, elected officials, and local community members performing dramatic readings of scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play An Enemy of the People to help frame powerful, guided audience discussions aimed at generating connection, understanding, compassion, moral repair, and much-needed healing. The play tells the story of a doctor who discovers the water supply in his small, rural town has been poisoned by a tannery. Despite his efforts to convey the truth to the public, the doctor fails to save his community from environmental disaster and is ultimately scapegoated for his whistleblowing. An Enemy of the People was first performed in Norway in 1882, and yet it speaks to the present moment as if it were written for our times — to the corrosive influence of power and money in politics, the distortions of the media, and the many other challenges to public health in our culture today, especially during times of crisis.