monumental travesties reflection series
Mosaic expands the concept of its Reflection Series, started in 2022 in conjunction with The Till Trilogy, to year-round programming that provides inroads for deep engagement with the themes of our plays. Through cross-disciplinary, citywide partnerships, Mosaic will produce an innovative series of concerts, readings, panels, and symposiums that spark meaningful reflection and foster conversation about our work.
The Reflection Series is sponsored by the CrossCurrents Foundation and Partners Circle Believers Leslie Scallet Liebeman & Maury Lieberman, and Advocates Margaret & John Hauge.
events in the reflection series
September
SAT 9 | 10:30AM
The Monument: History, Controversy, Strategy
Location: Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park
Mosaic Theater and the Hill Center present a walking tour and discussion at the Emancipation Memorial featuring Playwright Psalmayene 24, Mosaic Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas and Dr. Kay Wright Lewis, Associate Professor of History and Interim Dept. Chair at Howard University. Dr. Lewis will facilitate a collective in-person discussion at the site of the Emancipation Memorial to probe its historical significance, philosophical debates, and contemporary politics. Participants will gather in Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill to discuss the interlocking roles of race, place, memory, and power in memorializing our collective past. Dr. Lewis’s research focuses on slavery and abolition, African American intellectual history and the history of violence. $10.
SAT 9 | AFTER 8PM PERFORMANCE
Post-Show Talkback with Reginald L. Douglas and Ivy Barsky of the Capital Jewish Museum
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center
TUE 12 | 6PM
Race, Memory, Monuments, and Forgetting
Location: Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
Mosaic and the Hill Center present Dr. Edna Greene Medford, former Chair of the Department of History at Howard University, in conversation with Reginald L. Douglas and Psalmayene 24. The in-depth conversation will explore the history of The Emancipation Memorial—a statue that Charlotte Scott, a recently freed woman in 1865, donated her first $5 to build—as a vital site for both commemoration and critique, and pose the question: What is the proper monument to liberation? Dr. Medford specializes in 19th-century U.S. history, with an emphasis on slavery. She is the author of the highly acclaimed history Lincoln and Emancipation. Jonquilyn Hill, host of The Weeds, Vox's podcast for politics and policy discussions, will moderate. $10.
THU 14 | AFTER 8PM PERFORMANCE
Post-Show Talkback with Reginald L. Douglas, Psalmayene 24, DC History Center, and Ford’s Theatre
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center
A post-show conversation curated by the DC History Center about the Emancipation Memorial and the questions of what and how we remember. DC History Center and Ford’s Theatre in conversation with Playwright Psalmayene 24 and Artistic Director Reginald L Douglas. Immediately following the 8pm performance.
SUN 24 | AFTER 3PM PERFORMANCE
Post-Show Talkback the Artists of Monumental Travesties
Location: Atlas Performing Arts Center
A post-show conversation with the artists of Monumental Travesties. Immediately following the 3pm performance.
