By Jillian Follert
In the mid 1800s, thousands of black slaves escaped to Canada using the Underground Railroad.
The end of their journey meant liberation from physical bonds but for many starting a new life here was the beginning of another, more emotional struggle.
Local playwright Michael Szombathy examines this concept in his new play, The Property Principle, which showcased at the Arts Court Theatre February 6-8 and 11-15 as part of Black History Month.
Szombathy says the play looks beyond the story of the Underground Railroad, and examines different interpretations of freedom.
“To be free is not a question of throwing off the chains and escaping slavery. It’s a question of finding personal freedom within yourself and within your soul,” he explains. “It’s about facing a personal struggle and trying to regain your identity.”
“The play is only the second project for the Drama Union Theatre Company, a group assembled by Szombathy almost one year ago.
He says the goal of the company is to showcase the talent of Ottawa actors and provide a venue for new scripts like The Property Principle.
Szombathy says part of his inspiration for the play came from the character Jim, in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, and the rest from a collection of slave narratives that he came across. These stories detail the difficulty former slaves had adjusting to newfound freedom and life in Canada.
“I was disturbed but very interested by these narratives and it made me realize the struggle to escape was only the beginning,” Szombathy says. “I knew this was a story that hadn’t really been told.”
The play is set in pre-Confederation Halifax and follows the struggle of Jim, an escaped slave who comes to Canada and finds a job working as a servant for a captain and his daughter. While technically free, Jim realizes he is still a slave of his own making because he cannot let go of his past.
“This is an important aspect of history that is not commonly known and it should be because black history is Canadian history,” Szombathy says.
“There is so much focus on things like the French and the English and the Plains of Abraham. People don’t consider this aspect.”
Ottawa actor Karl Klaude, who plays Jim, says his character’s struggle to forget a terrible past and start a new life is not often addressed as part of black history.
“Everyone knows that slavery happened, but this play touches on aspects beyond that. What happened to the slaves after they escaped is something younger generations might not have thought about,” Klaude says. “It’s important to tell this part of it.”
While the play focuses on the experience of black slaves, Szombathy emphasizes that rebuilding an identity in a new country is an experience common to people of all backgrounds.
“This can be opened up and looked at as a universal struggle. It mirrors the experience of many immigrants who come to Canada now,” he says.
James Walton, 23, was in the audience for the play’s opening night, which drew a packed theatre.
As a history student at Carleton University, he says he is very interested in this aspect of Canada’s past.
“I found the story really sad but thought provoking at the same time,” he says. “It makes you think about the concept of freedom in a new way.”
Szombathy says he is proud of the production and hopes it will bring new audiences to the theatre.
“This story deals with elements everyone can relate to,” he says. “Hope, courage, strength and freedom.”