On a stage as sparse as a traditional Quaker meeting house, Rich Swingle spun the story of the 18th-century Quaker John Woolman, in his marvelously crafted production of  A Clear Leading*.

Seventy-five years before the Emancipation Proclamation , John comes to view slavery as against the will of God. His view is not popular. And mild-mannered by nature, he is reluctant to fight for his ideals. But aided by his guardian angel, he does. John not only has to confront the blatant bigotry of the alluring, devilish town bully, Amos, but also the innocent misconceptions of his mentor Mr. Worthington.
Swingle switched expertly from playing the nine-year-old Sarah Ellis , to the fire-and-brimstone abolitionist Benjamin Lay, to a dying slave, to more than ten other characters -- without changing his single, splendid period costume. It was easy to believe it had been an epic performance with a full cast of characters.

Of particular poignance was his re-enactment of an elderly slave's dream of freedom. She swims the Atlantic Ocean back to Africa and finds the village she grew up in restored to its original state, except now everything is made of gold. Swingle avoided the over-reverential treatment that a religious play can often take. He treated each character's experience with great integrity. The two hours flew by in the capable hands of this consummate storyteller.

Near the end of this show, John Woolman steps into the future and into the audience and engages them in a discussion about slavery. "How were the slaves finally freed?" "Was it peaceful or was there violence?" And the most telling question: "How are Negroes treated today?" It becomes clear that the show is, in part, crafted as an educational device for touring. As eloquently as Swingle handles this dialogue, it would be a waste of his considerable gifts to restrict him to a college and high-school circuit. His acting needs to be seen in larger venues. His ability to dramatize a story in his writing is another great gift that he should continue to develop.

...with Rich Swingle the audience are in the hands of a talented and professional performer and writer....

--James A. Lopata
Off-Off Broadway Review, January 1999 ( Full Review)

Mr. Lopata gave the production highest marks for writing and acting.

1997 Off-Off Broadway Review about an earlier production of the play

* A Clear Leading is now available as I Dreamed I Was Free.

 This is a Google translation of a review in DER BERGEN-ENKHEIMER 13.09.2018,
Mosaikkriche präsentiert Rich Swingle's Theaterstück:

Still up to date: the subject of "slavery"
Mosaic Church presents Rich Swingle's play

Bergen-Enkheim (zbs) - The old slave Dolly had a dream in South Carolina, in the United States of the 18th century. She had run and walked until she got to the sea and went swimming there. For people like her then that was an impossibility. The New Yorker Rich Swingle took up the story and presented the one-man play I Dreamed I Was Free in English for the Mosaic Church Bergen-Enkheim.

Dolly served with other slaves of a Christian white family in the country. John Woolman was the first in the family to think more deeply and philosophically about what it means to be a Christian, but still possess, sell, and trade in slaves as if they were animals. Woolman kept a diary in his day that is still quoted today when it comes to slavery.

Rich Swingle performs regularly with his one-man play
More than 200 years later, in 1997, Rich Swingle had the idea to write a one-man play out of this story, with which he performs regularly. On his tour through Europe he visited Copenhagen, Brussels,   and Frankfurt, more precisely: The Riedsporthalle in Enkheim. "We were really happy when Swingle agreed," says Katharina Steinhauer, Pastor of the Mosaic Church, who made this event possible.

It's about faith in God, anger and despair
In the English-language play in which Swingle's wife directed , it's all about faith in God, anger and despair. In the work, the protagonist tells an anecdote that describes the key message well: John had heard two slaves talking (in a dream) on his travels. One said to the other: "If these colonists attribute everything they do to their God and Jesus, then they must be the most terrible characters."   He then felt obliged to do something about the situation in his country and for the slaves, no matter how much it took to release them.

Rich Swingle takes on nine different roles in the play
Swingle took on a total of nine different roles in the play. He slipped from an august white slave owner and within seconds was in the skin of a dying young black man who will never see his child again. The story showed the transformation of the characters of Woolman, the slave Dolly and the slave trader Michael Worthington.

In the first part of the play John Woolman was presented as a small child. In the second part he is 19 and later he returns after a long journey as a 38-year-old and wants to convince Michael how immoral he acts.

The spectators are also required in the theater performance
Another special feature of the evening was how interactively Swingle designed it. So the spectators acted as "participants" in the "Philadelphia Yearly Meeting." They stood up against slavery and were so quiet between the first and second parts for several minutes after the request of the artist , that you could hear a pin drop.

After the end of the play Swingle sat down on the "Hot Seat" and everyone could ask him questions about the characters, or to himself, of course in English. The approximately 100 spectators asked if the problem of slavery was still happening and if so, what Woolman would do about it today. "Unfortunately, there are currently more slaves than at the time, though not in the US . It is still very bad. In total there are nearly 30 million worldwide. What we can do is fundamentally change our behavior towards people of whatever origin. It is now, more than ever, important to show love and to believe," were then the words of the actor.

"It was a very moving performance. Thank you! I can’t stop talking about the performance to my family and friends."
--Nina Berggren Monsen
Oslo, Norway

Joyce taught on Jeremiah for the Church of the Nazarene in Oslo, Norway. It is a Portuguese community with people from Cape Verde, Brazil and Norway.

Click the arrow below, or if you're reading this in an email you can click this link, to play the service:

https://archive.org/embed/JoyceOnJeremiahInOslo

Before Joyce taught, Rich performed Jonah. We were both really moved to share with this community.

Afterward we got to see the city, including the Oslo Opera House, which is in the photo above. That's Joyce in the far right.

We were in the city to perform I Dreamed I Was Free at the Nordic Black Theatre. Everyone seemed to feel that it went really well, and we're talking about a return with a longer run. Here's my report...


This is the first of a series of posts I'm planning that will share details from this trip with performances in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany: Europe2018.

This intriguing piece, derived from Woolman's diary, portrays Woolman from teenager to older man (he died at 52 of smallpox while visiting England on an anti-slavery tour).

Obviously very sincere in matters of religion, Swingle hasn't let matters of devotion get in the way of creating an entertaining, interesting, and moving theatre piece. He played Woolman as an older man and as a 19-year-old, as well as portraying his boss, Michael Worthington, two slaves, and a slaveowner and former chum, Amos Elkins. In the course of the play, Woolman develops from callow youth to thoughtful and independent adult. The presence of the other characters gives Woolman something to develop against, as, for instance, when one slave dies, unburdening himself most frankly against white slaveowners, under his care. Woolman's character is shown warts and all, and his life becomes a process of slowly getting rid of those warts and starting his own ministry.

None of this would have worked were Swingle not an extremely competent actor, able to bring all these characters to life with a minimum of props, a couple of set pieces, and authentic-looking costume.

Two notes that made the production especially interesting were a minute of Quaker worship during intermission (no one had a clear leading* and spoke up, though) and a question-and-answer session by John Woolman -- that is, Swingle still in character -- after the show.
—John Chatterton
Off-Off Broadway Review, August 7, 1997  ( Full review)

Click here for a 1999 Off-Off Broadway Review of a later production.

*The play was titled A Clear Leading at the time of this review. It is now titled I Dreamed I Was Free.

The outdoor performance was steps away from what used to be John Woolman's orchard.

I got to perform A Clear Leading, my one-man play about John Woolman at the John Woolman Memorial for their centennial celebration!

Woolman spoke against slavery a century before America's Civil War, and after the play they had me stay in character so Woolman could receive two birthday gifts which showed the fruit of his labors: a copy of "The Emancipation Proclamation" and Letters from a Birmingham Jail. Woolman would be 295 today, but his words have certainly lived on. His journal has never been out of print!

I put those gifts in my prop box, alongside Joyce's letter to me when she house managed my 1997 Off-Broadway production of the play. It was that production that was attended by board members of the John Woolman Memorial. They brought me down to perform near the Memorial on October 4, 1997. I remember the date because I proposed to Joyce that night. You can read the pulse pounding details by clicking here.

So this performance was quite special on many different levels, and there's an embargo on news of another project that made this location special. I hope to post news of that soon: www.RichDrama.com/Updates.

With Jack and Carol Walz, who oversee the John Woolman Memorial, which is behind us.

Rich Swingle is an amazing actor! I've had the pleasure of attending several of his workshops and experiencing his shows, The Revelation --this one blew my mind and brought me to my knees!) and A Clear Leading ( I Dreamed I Was Free) --a very accurate historical and spiritually inspiring play).

--Cheryl A. Baugh
Associate Professor
English and Communication
Department
Fontbonne University

Dear Rich,

My name is Jana. I am a student at Fox and had the privilege of seeing you perform in chapel and your A Clear Leading ( I Dreamed I Was Free) act. They were both amazing.

I just wanted to say thanks for how candid you were in the chapel session. Possibly my most favorite was when you said, "In the beginning, work was good!" That was cool...totally counter cultural but very cool.

May God continue to bless your ministry. May you see His hand and glory working through you.

In Him and Much Luv,
Jana
George Fox University
Newberg, Oregon

I enjoyed your play so much. You are truly blessed from God with an
incredible gift.
Robbin D Copenhaver
Meridian, ID

For information on I Dreamed I Was Free, visit  www.RichDrama.com/IDreamedIWasFree