An epic escape to freedom with magic

In collaboration between Andy Jordan Productions and Hindsight Productions.

SYNOPSIS

A play disguised as a magic show where history and illusion intertwine. Enslaved in America, Henry ‘Box’ Brown conjures his life and reenacts his daring 1849 escape when he shipped himself to freedom inside a wooden crate. Each illusion mirrors a chapter of his journey: love, loss, confinement, faith and defiance.

Gospel-infused soundscapes and stagecraft transform the theatre into a site of both sanctuary and reckoning. As boxes appear, vanish and break apart, Henry’s story becomes more than spectacle – it becomes testimony, inviting audiences to witness liberation not as legend but as lived and embodied resistance.

After his escape, Henry moved to Britain where he toured an antislavery panorama for ten years, before becoming a touring magician and showman. He performed in Edinburgh several times.

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TEAM CREDITS

Writer and Director – Rickerby Hinds

Project Manager – Gabrielle Williams

Cast – Josiah Alpher and Jada Evelyn Ramsey