Insurrection: Holding History

by Robert O'Hara

A remarkable debut by a talented new African-American playwright.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Historical Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read on a flight from Vegas>San Diego>Dallas. Reminds me of Brandon Jacob-Jenkins and Octavia Butler.

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updated review on May 26, 2015. I re-read this in the reading series for the plays that were being considered for SUNY Sullivan's 2015-2016 Season. It was chosen! Which is really exciting considering I was nervous last fall to add it to the mix. The students who read it fell in love with it. I was pleased to hear it aloud in the reading, and I am more excited to direct it.

From Howard University's production: "Insurrection: Holding History tells the story of TJ who is 189 years old and ready to go. But before he passes on, he convinces his great-great grandson (Ron) to take him back to Virginia one last time. The further they drive the further back in time they go landing them in the middle of Nat Turner's slave-led revolution. Ideas about slavery, homosexuality and the value of family converge in this time-bending comic fantasia."

August 31, 2014 review: This play is amazing! I had thought about adding it to the mix of plays that I'm interested in directing for the 2014-2015 Season at SUNY Sullivan, but I think it's a hard sell for the first year. It touches on slave history, GLTBIQ identity, PhD thesis', and the class system of the United States. The styles of acting and directing fill the spectrum of physical theater, Brecht, and psychological realism. Though, I've had my eye on this play since my professor in grad school, Kym Moore had us read it and do scene work from it, so...I want to keep it on the back burner as something that I will get to eventually.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting play, though one that takes quite a while to get into. The style is quite intimidating and confusing, but you get into the flow after about 20 or 30 pages. While the story at its core was incredibly fascinating and riveting, I found myself having a hard time keeping with it because of O'Hara's writing. A lot of the time, it just seemed like he was overdoing the nonrealism/magical realism/whatever of his writing/the story; at points I felt like O'Hara was just being weird for the sake of grabbing attention, seeming 'cool/different,' and not to actually advance the story or his point(s). That said, I did enjoy myself, by the end of it, and found the intertwining of the multiple stories productive. You can clearly see the maturation of the playwright between this and 'The Etiquette of Vigilance,' and I do look forward to reading/seeing more of his work.

[Rashaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insurrection Holding History is about Ron a gay protagonist who in search of a central theme for his thesis is taken back in time by his 189 year old great-great-grandfather to see life in Southampton during slavery and the rebellion of Nat Turner. In Ron’s travels the reader is introduced to Mistress Mo’tel a southern white woman who transcends common perception of white women in her time.

[Robert Rauschenberg]

Recommended by Tyler Whidden (Ensemble Theatre).

[Kayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant script! Kind of hard to read sometimes, but there are a few great monologues for black and white men and women.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to see this performed...a very simplified review of this play is that history lives on in the present.