Playwright Lydia Diamond at Royall House June 9

Royall House and Slave Quarters Presents “Giving Voice: An Afternoon with Playwright Lydia Diamond” on June 9

On Saturday, June 9 (3 to 5 p.m.), Lydia R. Diamond, a prominent American playwright, will be featured at “Giving Voice,” the Royall House and Slave Quarters’ annual fundraiser on the museum grounds at 15 George Street, Medford, Massachusetts.

Ms. Diamond recently made her Broadway debut with her play Stick Fly, produced by Alicia Keys and directed by Kenny Leon. Her many award-winning plays have been produced at theaters and universities around the country. Ms. Diamond is currently on the faculty at Boston University. When asked why she writes plays about complex and difficult topics like race, slavery, and the historic mistreatment of enslaved Africans, Lydia Diamond replies that it is healing to tell such stories, that giving these issues a voice and a context is empowering. In Ms. Diamond’s play Harriet Jacobs, an adaptation of Jacobs’ autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet’s personal connection with the audience puts a modern perspective on the history of slavery. Her play Voyeurs de Venus tells of the enslaved African woman who was notoriously exploited as the “Hottentot Venus,” a freak-show attraction in nineteenth-century Europe. Boston Globe theater critic Louise Kennedy wrote, “Diamond always examines these huge topics through a specific human lens, and she always lets her characters reveal themselves rather than explaining them.”

The event also features: music, tours, exhibits, and refreshments. Tickets are $45 ($35 for members) and Sponsorships are also available. Both may be purchased via www.royallhouse.org, or by e-mailing Director@royallhouse.org. Phone (781) 396-9032.

In the 18th century, the Royall House & Slave Quarters in Medford was the home of Massachusetts’s largest slaveholding family and the enslaved Africans who made their lavish way of life possible. Today, architecture, furnishings, and archaeological artifacts bear witness to the intertwined stories of wealth and bondage, set against the backdrop of America’s quest for independence. The Slave Quarters (1732) is the only remaining such structure in the northern United States, and the Royall House (1737) is among the finest colonial era buildings in New England. The site is a National Historic Landmark and operates as a museum and educational resource to further the central mission of the Royall House and Slave Quarters: “To explore and present the meanings of freedom and independence before, during and since the American Revolution, in the context of a household of wealthy Loyalists and enslaved Africans.” The site is open for tours from June to October (weekends, at 1, 2, 3, and 4 p.m.).

– Submitted by Tom Lincoln, Royall House Director