By Terence Anthony
Directed by Daniel Carlton
With Benjamin Rowe, Rob Penty, Wadiah Waliah, and Sidney Hatcher
The year is 1935. For years, Attius has lived behind the imposing walls of Central State Hospital – one of only seven US psychiatric institutions built to house "insane and idiotic negroes" – where the homeless and destitute are confined alongside the diseased and the criminally insane.
Attius has carved out a meager existence within the hospital building coffins, quietly crafting the final boxes for those who will never see freedom again. But everything changes when two new patients arrive, and Attius is forced to confront a possibility he buried long ago – a chance at life beyond the walls.
In an effort to care for our community, we’re sharing details about this production that may be sensitive for members of our audience. The following information may reveal plot points.
Recommended ages 16+. This show contains haze as well as strong language, racial slurs, and violence.
Please join us for a post-show talkbackmoderated by Marcia Pendleton following the performance on Friday, August 21 at 7:15PM.
The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC, Inc.) develops, produces, and sustains transformative theatre rooted in the Black experience. Founded to amplify voices historically excluded from American stages, NEC, Inc. centers Black playwrights and artists whose work interrogates culture, power, identity, and resilience. NEC, Inc. serves as both a cultural home and a creative engine honoring legacy while advancing bold, contemporary Black storytelling. NEC, Inc. is a Co-Op Resident Company at 59E59 Theaters.
Read more at: necinc.org
"The House of the Negro Insane will sweep you up in a tornado of emotions and deliver a few gut-punches as well. A polished piece of playwrighting, this piece... should find its place on stages across the country."– BroadwayWorld
"...vivdly invokes a shameful American Past"– Washington Post
"A grippingly intense experience of theater, and a microcosm of Jim Crow America."– DC Theater Arts
"A disturbing, gripping play. The playwright uses a gruesome, little known setting, adds compelling characters and tells the story of extreme government-sanctioned racial injustice."– WYPR
"Terence Anthony's powerful play brings forgotten racist history to chilling life."
"The House of the Negro Insane tells a harrowing story with depth and emotion... It deserves a bigger audience"– TheaterMania
"Carlton and his superb cast ultimately give the play what it needs most: a sense that even inside a place designed to extinguish hope, human beings continue to make meaning."
"Harrowing but also deeply humane, a piece of theater whose darkness makes its flashes of beauty all the more affecting."– TheaterScene
"It has a terrible story to tell, one that should never be forgotten"– Lighting and Sound America
"A searing drama about confinement, despair, and the possibility of freedom."
"The play has a surreal texture that director Daniel Carlton brings to vivid life"–OffOffOnline
"An eye-opening and thought-provoking production... The story is engaging and disturbing, but shines a needed light on a terrible situation"– New York Amsterdam News
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