Battle in the Margins is a new theatrical project collaboration between OPRHP and Black Gotham Experience exploring Black life in New York City during the American Revolution. Developed through a series of original ten-minute plays, this project centers the African Diaspora’s experiences, resistance, and role in shaping early American history – shining a light on stories often left out of the nation’s founding narrative. The productions will premiere this September 19th at FDR Four Freedoms State Park. See Press Release.

Download the research brief below, compiled to open the aperture on the impact of the African Diaspora and New York City on the American Revolutionary era.

WRITING WORKSHOPS

Leading up to the main event, Black Gotham Experience and affiliate SYNTAX hosted city-wide writing workshops. They were open to student to professional writers and served as invitations to New Yorkers to grapple with the Revolution’s contradictions – a fight for liberty in a society where enslavement remained legal. Through thought-provoking prompts and community dialogue, participants explored themes of freedom, displacement, and identity in Revolutionary-era New York.

Wednesday March 11th | 6-8pm | Milk & Pull | Brooklyn, NY

Wednesday May 27th | 6:30pm – 9:30pm | New Negro Republic Creators Lab | Staten Island, NY

Wednesday June 24th | 6:30pm – 9:30pm | New Negro Republic Creators Lab | Staten Island, NY

Saturday June 27th | 2pm – 5pm | Denny Farrell State Park | Manhattan, NY

Saturday July 11th | 1pm – 2:30pm | The Free Black Women’s Library | Brooklyn, NY 

Wednesday July 15th | 3pm – 5pm | Granny Annie’s | Roosevelt Island, NY

Saturday July 18th | 3pm – 5pm | Virtual

Monday July 27th | 6pm – 9pm | Fraunces Tavern Museum