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The mission of History Theatre is to engage and empower Savannah, Georgia's adults, teenagers and children in the production of historical dramas and musicals about Savannah for local and visitor audiences. We are a tax-exempt, nonprofit community theatre with a professional temperament.
Artistic Director Lorrie Rumpel and her husband Fritz, the organization's executive director, founded the original History Theatre in 2007, and created and produced "Let My people go."
This groundbreaking play highlights old times about Savannah that had been forgotten, such as: the persecution of Reverend Andrew Bryan in 1786; "The Weeping Time," one of the largest auction of enslaved people in American history, held in 1859; and the "Cornerstone of the Confederacy" speech delivered by Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens in 1861. The production was praised by such media as Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Savannah Herald:
In 2015 the Rumpels created and produced Forty Acres and a Mule, a docudrama that provides the definitive account of the historic meeting in Savannah in 1865 that gave birth to the idea of how to achieve racial equity in America: "We want to be placed on land until we can buy it and make it our own."
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This landmark production premiered at the 2015 National Black Theatre Festival Filmfest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to a standing-room-only audience.
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And in 2022 History Theatre embarked on its most ambitious undertaking yet: Susie King Taylor: "What a Wonderful Revolution!", an epic play based on this trailblazer's acclaimed Civil War memoir, the only one written by a Black woman. (You can read her remarkable story at https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/taylorsu/taylorsu.html .)The scope of the show is so broad that four actors portray Taylor during different stages of her life, which is spread over 21 scenes in two acts. The cast includes 25 actors portraying over 50 characters.
A major production like this demands quite a few resources, including, of course, financial investment. That is why History Theatre is asking you to please contribute to this cause and ensure that the story of Susie King Taylor is one "old time" that will be remembered by making your tax-deductible donation. Thank you!
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