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by Charles Robertson, directed by Jim Garrard

Thousand Miles of Bricks Productions, Alumnae Studio Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street, Toronto

January 29-February 9, 2025

Josiah Henson: “I’ll use my freedom well”

There are two overwhelming reasons not to miss Josiah, now playing at the Alumnae Studio Theatre. One is to hear the amazing true story of Josiah Henson (1789-1883), a Canadian hero, who was born into slavery in the US, escaped to freedom in Canada and went on to become a conductor on the Underground Railroad where he helped 118 US slaves to freedom, including his own brother. The second reason is to see the terrific performance of Cassel Miles, who narrates and acts out the story playing an incredible 40 characters. It is a dramatic tour de force that in Miles’s hands seems easy and simply a natural part of the storytelling.

Miles previously toured an earlier version of the play created by himself and Charles Robertson.* The text is inspired by Henson’s autobiography The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849), a book famous as the inspiration for the title character of the classic anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Robertson begins the play with Henson watching his father receive a punishment of a hundred lashes from the White overseer of the farm where he worked. Henson’s father was being punished for preventing the overseer from raping Henson’s mother. The soundscape for the show features the sound of the lashes Henson’s father received, and the sound of a lash is heard many times later whenever something negative occurs to Josiah Henson.

Josiah describes experiencing the hell of slavery early on when he and his family were sold and he and his mother were separated from each other. Josiah is reunited with his mother only because he becomes sickly and his buyer wants to get rid of him.

What makes Josiah stand out is that his sense of pride and self-worth somehow never succumb to a system that has been set up to drive out such feelings. Josiah knows he is strong and knows he is smart, and he puts it down to his pride that he always sought ways to better himself. The first time he sees a boy with a book, he wants to learn to read and write. That plan fails when his master discovers a book and informs him it is forbidden for slaves to read and write. Miles then takes on the role of a White politician who explains that education among Black people will only stir up dissent and rebellion.

When Josiah discovers that his master’s overseer is a thief, his master allows Josiah to take the overseer’s place. It soon becomes evident that Josiah is holding the farm together while his master wallows in a drunken stupor. When his master’s brother-in-law seeks to take the farm away from his master, Josiah is tasked with leading all the slaves from the farm in Maryland over 700 miles to the master’s brother’s farm in Kentucky. This tale, the story of Josiah’s attempt to buy his freedom, his betrayal, his escape from being sold in New Orleans and his hiding out with his family as escaped slaves, all these events are so trying we wonder how anyone could survive them. But Josiah does, and when he and his family finally arrive in Canada, we feel like celebrating along with them.

Miles is a charismatic storyteller. He draws us in from his first words and holds us fast until the very end. His impassioned delivery makes Henson’s words come alive, and his acting as such an astonishing number of characters so peoples the bare stage that we often forget there is only one person before us. Miles keeps this multitude of characters completely distinct. They are White and Black men, women and children of varied ages, varied temperaments and varied accents. Miles changes Josiah’s voice subtly as he ages from a little boy to a grown man of 41. Miles vividly depicts the ageing and decline of Josiah’s White master Isaac Riley due to alcoholism and later, and most poignantly, of Josiah’s fellow slave Henry, who has become an old man by age 27 due to illness and overwork.

Miles distinguishes his characters not merely through changes of voice but also by changes of expression, posture and gesture. Josiah’s story may be based on a narrative, but Miles gives it a very physical performance. Miles started in theatre as a dancer and his depiction of knock-down brawls has a vibrant, balletic quality. The early 19th-century time-period means there is much walking and horse-riding. These Miles enacts through tap-dancing with different steps for walking and different steps for the differing paces in horse-riding. Miles also has occasion to sing and he has such a strong, mellow voice I wish the story had allowed for more.

The stage is bare except for a small bucket of water and, as per an idea of Robertson, Miles uses only two props – a cloth cap and a square of blue fabric. Like his voice and his body, Miles can transform these to whatever item he needs. The cap can become a bottle or a fan. The square can become a letter or a little baby. As in the best theatre, Miles stimulates our imagination to complete the scene.

Robertson has Henson’s story end when Henson arrives in Canda. Henson shouts back to the captain who helped him, "I'll use my freedom well”. This Henson did. My only wish is that Miles would provide a coda to his play to let those of us less familiar with Henson’s story know what Henson went on to accomplish with his freedom. His achievements included learning to read and write when he was an adult from his own son, rescuing slaves, building a 500-person freeman settlement near Dresden, Ontario (where there is an interpretive centre dedicated to him) and winning a medal at the first World’s Fair in London in 1851 for the quality of the wood grown at the settlement. This information is on the show's website, but it should also be part of the play.

The story of Josiah Henson is one that every Canadian should know. It is the remarkable tale of a man who trusted in his inner light to guide him through adversity. That a person could endure such physical and psychological trauma and not only survive but thrive is an example that everyone should have to provide a glimmer of hope in turbulent times. Henson’s story could not be more engagingly told than it is by a virtuoso storyteller like Cassel Miles. Miles last played in Toronto in 2019, so do see him while you can.

Christopher Hoile

*Review revised 11:33AM February 23 following receipt of information by Charles Robertson.

Photos: Cassel Miles in Josiah. © 2019 Anne Marie Mortensen.

For tickets visit: josiahtheshow.com.