Achieving freedom through art through June 17th. If you had told me a couple of months ago that a theater company in Houston would present an Afrofuturism piece portraying legendary Harriet Tubman as an intergalactic space-time traveler, talkshow host, and deejay out to free the entire universe, I would never have believed you. And yet,
Stepping into Matchbox 1, eyes go immediately to the four concentric white circle on stage. Stare long enough and it feels like the beginning of a hypnosis trick. The outlines of the circles start to mimic spirals and the structure begins to feel like an optical illusion. Breaking you out of the trance-like state is
In A Maroon’s Guide to Time and Space, the latest avant-garde offering from Houston’s ever-adventurous Catastrophic Theatre, Harriet Tubman is whisked not just from the bondage of slavery but into other galaxies and chronologies. She watches a highlight reel of her life that details her courage and hardships before ending on a wry high note: