Actress Depicts Sojourner Truth
Woods took the persona of one of history’s most notable women’s activists, Sojourner Truth, and displayed a theatrical performance.
She had the audience in silence as she began her recreation of Sojourner Truth by singing a song written and sung by Sojourner herself.
Woods added live interaction to make the rendition more entertaining for the younger audience.
As she belted out “Amazing Grace,” jaws were dropping throughout the auditorium. The power that was put behind each note magnified her persona as a woman of power, nobility, and perseverance.
Woods sets a picture of a girl born into slavery the year of 1797. The girl, Isabella, was traded through three masters during the course of 29 years.
By this time, Isabella had had enough. Woods acted out a part of the performance by demonstrating how Isabella battled internally to keep her trust in god.
At this time, she is gifted with god’s answer. He renames her Sojourner Truth.
The explanation of the exhaustion and harmful duties at work in the fields were filled with woe.
It provoked chills when Woods acted with such passion to remove her sleeve and show the audience the wounds casted by her daily tasks.
Sojourner Truth spoke out for all women by stating women work just as hard as, if not harder than, men in the field and yet their pay was half the men’s pay.
In this scene, Woods looked up, pointed at the sky and said, “Women to have a voice.”
The thought of women suffering another second outraged Sojourner.
As an advocate for women’s rights, Sojourner Truth was graced with the presents of many men in power. Her fellow activists followed her and proceeded to support women’s rights until the law was passed for women to vote.
It was said that the day of election, a group of activists strolled up to the voting station at the same time to cast their votes. It is believed that Sojourner would have walked up to the voting stands alone.
Woods advocated that everyone should read the autobiography of Sojourner Truth. Because Truth couldn’t read or write, her biography was written by a friend as dictated by Truth.
Woods received a standing ovation after her performance. The script used for the show was raised from her zeal to completely depict Sojourner Truth. It was a performance worth watching again.
In addition to small live performances, Woods acts in Boston tour groups such as People’s Theater and the Underground Railway Theater.