Pace to reenact life of Frederic Douglass
By submitted, 01/26/18 10:19 AM
HOPE – Charles Everett Pace of Texarkana, who has traveled the world bringing a stalwart of historical accomplishments to life, will reenact the life of abolitionist author Frederic Douglass at 7 p.m., Thursday, February 8 at Hempstead Hall on the University of Arkansas – Hope campus.
The performance is in conjunction with Black History Month and is also a part of the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council’s Hempstead County Bicentennial programs and projects.
As a member of the Great Plains Chautauqua Society, Pace’s 90-minute performance will focus on Douglass’ rise from slavery to become the leading African-American voice of the 19th Century. His three autobiographies are considered important works of the slave narrative tradition as well as classics of American autobiography.
For the last two decades, Pace has given hundreds of performances recreating the lives of Douglass as well as W.E.B. DuBois and Malcolm X.With his dramatic, interactive performance, Pace will divulge into the struggle of Douglass to earn his freedom from slavery and the difficulties in writing his famous novel; he will relate his brutal upbringing, how he he escaped and became the most prominent voice for the abolition of slavery.
The performance will also detail Douglass’ involvement with the recruiting efforts of the 54th and 55th regiments of the Massachusetts militia during the Civil War. Following the performance, Pace will answer audience questions, first in character as Douglass then out of character.
Pace received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas – Austin, and his master’s from Purdue University. Outside of acting, he has served as a Program Advisor at the University of Texas-Austin and has taught at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Purdue University, and most recently at Centre College in Kentucky. Pace has also conducted performance-based public diplomacy work for the United States Information Agency (USIA) in dozens of cities in nine countries across east, west and southern Africa.
After each performance, audience members are invited to pose challenging questions to the character; then, Pace “breaks character” and responds to questions as the scholar-artist, encouraging the audience members to tap into their own “inner creative calling.”
The performance is co-sponsored by SWAAC and Hempstead Hall. Tickets are available at hempsteadhall.com and are $10, $5 for students.
