Sojourner Truth was born in Upstate New York around 1798, one of a dozen children of James and Elizabeth Bomefree. Her parents were slaves, and she was too. When she was an infant, two of her siblings were sold to different estates in what was once Dutch New York. Sojourner’s first language was Dutch. In this one-woman show written by Richard Lamont Pierce, Zuhairah McGill brings to the stage at Curio Theatre, a role she originated over twenty years ago. In it, she is older and is telling the stories of her journey, out of slavery and her views of what was going on in America before and after the Civil War. It is an extraordinary learning experience as it is performed powerfully by McGill in this 90-minute piece.
Sojourner is about to go through a stage door to talk to the public. She is one of the most sought-after speakers in the country in the mid 19th century. She even met with Presidents Lincoln and Grant. But before, she is addressing us, the audience- the press- and she tells us about her life.
Normally, I don’t enjoy plays where there is lots of telling rather than showing. However, McGill shares Sojourner’s stories with such feeling, in her voice and through her facial expressions, that we feel as though she is sitting with each of us privately. And what stories they are!!
Before she was 30, she was “owned” by 4 different families, being sold several times. She was constantly abused, both physically and mentally and was ridiculed every day for being a stupid Black thing. A displeased wife of one of her owners once poured boiling water on her hands. She had no more value than a horse, – except to herself, as she realized what lay in store for her and her people.
We feel we are with her as she watches impoverished and famished Africans arrive by ship, heading for the auction block. She sees the gunning down of those who try to escape. Later, when she is free, we are with her as she fights in court to get back her son who was sold to a Georgia plantation. And we watch as over the years, a powerful friendship develops with Frederick Douglass after a rocky beginning.
Sojourner spoke at many women’s conferences and anti-slavery meetings. She was an inspiration to so many. And after the Civil War, she had hope during the period of Reconstruction until it abruptly stopped with the election in 1876, of Rutherford B. Hayes.
She is almost 80 when the Ku Klux Klan arrives. What a history lesson in an hour and a half. I wish that I could have learned this way instead of in the boring textbooks that I read. And in those books, there was so much that wasn’t there.
Zuhairah McGill is not just portraying an amazing woman of the 19th century, she is her- Sojourner Truth!!!
“Sojourner” by Richard Lamont Pierce at Curio Theatre Company, 4740 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143 , 215-921-8243, curiotheatre.org thru February 14,, 2026
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 