Drumfolk at New Victory Theater

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. I received complimentary tickets for review purposes.

Educational storytelling through music and dance is exactly what the show Drumfolk manages to execute really well. This story of the Stone Rebellion retells and highlights the importance of African rhythms within the African American culture and beyond since its beginnings.

Drumfolk is inspired by the Stono Rebellion of 1739, an uprising of 20 enslaved Africans from Angola who used their drums to start a revolt. This event sparked the Negro Act of 1740, which prohibited, among many other rights, the Africans’ use of drums. In conveying the context of these historical events, this production features a few intense thematic moments.

Powerful. Precise. Persistent. Political. The drum is talking. The music is calling. When Africans lost the right to use their drums, the beats found their way into the body of the people—the DRUMFOLK. New percussive art forms took root and made way for tap, beatboxing and the African American tradition of stepping. From hambone to hip-hop, an extraordinary ensemble of dancers, drummers and musicians takes us from West Africa to Washington, D.C., to reveal the hidden histories and resounding rhythms that transformed America.