History and memory collide in this theatrical staging of Pulitzer Prize winner and 19th U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey's searing poetry.

Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey’s Native Guard will be staged for the first time in this special Hertz Stage world premiere. Native Guard will take to the stage with music, image, and text in this special Hertz Stage world premiere. Native Guard juxtaposes the deeply personal experiences of Trethewey, a child of a then-illegal marriage between her black mother and white father living in 1960s Mississippi, with the experience of a soldier in the Native Guard, the first African-American Union troop in the Civil War, who was charged with guarding white Confederate captives. Years after her mother's tragic death, Trethewey reclaims her memory, just as she reclaims the voices of the black soldiers whose service has been all but forgotten. Join us nightly for Act II—a participatory experience hosted by community leaders, cast, and Alliance staff.  Act II also includes a complimentary wine, beer, or other beverage of your choice.  Click here to learn more and to see a full schedule of Act II hosts.  

Originally developed with support from the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.