The Vanport Mosaic presents a fully staged reading of Act I of Martha Bakes: a Biography of a Revolution and Insurrection that never happened, as part of the 2021 Fertile Ground Festival. This new play is written by Don Wilson Glenn, directed by Damaris Webb, and features Adrienne Flagg as the first, First Lady, Martha Washington.

Live premiere: Sunday 1/31, 4:30pm

Open Access: 2/1 - 2/15 
Run time: 1hr 

Access MARTHA BAKES through Fertile Ground’s Facebook and Youtube.  Links available at fertilegroundpdx.org 

Access the digital program and other materials related to the production here

Synopsis
Using the device of the one-woman show, MARTHA BAKES takes a satirical lens to American Colonial HerStory. Part historical biography, part cooking show, we are invited into the relationship between Martha Washington, our original First Lady, and her dower slave Oney Marie Judge during an imagined slave revolt on Mount Vernon. The play begins with Martha, the fresh widow of George Washington, socially distancing herself during a fictitious slave uprising on Mount Vernon. The slaves have learned the contents of George’s will declaring that the over 350 enslaved bodies on the plantation are to be set free –upon the death of Martha. Enduring her new found circumstances with a pleasant disposition, Martha bakes us a three-course meal during the revolt, as she barricades herself in the kitchen and with each preparation reflects on her influential role with scant representation in the creation of our Nation. That the suffrage and abolition movements are not always easy bedfellows echo the legacies of racism, sexism and voter suppression that our Nation is still struggling to unpack today.

This event is possible due to the generosity of our sponsors and funders:
Ronni Lacroute, The Collins Foundation, Advance Gender Equity & The Arts, Oregon Community Foundation’s Oregon Arts and Cultural Recovery Program and Fred W. Field Fund.

Run time:
60 min

Admission: 
Free. Donation gladly accepted