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Magic-themed play dramatizes Henry “Box” Brown’s 1849 escape

8/17/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Rickerby Hinds stages a magic-themed play dramatizing Henry “Box” Brown’s 1849 escape.
Brown mailed himself in a wooden crate from near Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, where the 1780 Gradual Abolition Act ended slavery.
Josiah Alpher plays Brown.
Jada Evelyn Ramsey appears as a magician’s assistant.
Reviewers note the play’s breakneck, monotone delivery makes its depiction of slavery’s institutional bonds hard to follow.

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Story summary

Rickerby Hinds stages a magic-themed play dramatizing Henry “Box” Brown’s 1849 escape.
Brown mailed himself in a wooden crate from near Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, where the 1780 Gradual Abolition Act ended slavery.
Josiah Alpher plays Brown.
Jada Evelyn Ramsey appears as a magician’s assistant.
Reviewers note the play’s breakneck, monotone delivery makes its depiction of slavery’s institutional bonds hard to follow.