The Hull/Hawley Plays: The Widow’s Land & Hold These Truths
The Hull/Hawley Plays – The Widow’s Land and Hold These Truths – will be staged in the restored historic 1805 Shepherd Barn September 17th – October 4th.
Event Details
Staged in the Shepherd Barn, Historic Northampton
46 Bridge Street
Northampton MA
Get directions
To mark the 250th, this fall Historic Northampton, in collaboration with Plays in Place, will premiere two new plays. These dramas take us into the lives of two Northampton residents who, in the lead up to the American Revolution, are each fighting for their own autonomy and freedom.
The Widow’s Land
In 1765, Bathsheba Hull, a Black woman living with her children in her home on an island in the Mill River, receives an eviction notice from the white town officials.
This new play follows her fight for her home, her position as a free woman in colonial Northampton, and her children’s future.
Hold These Truths
In May 1774, Massachusetts is on the cusp of open rebellion against the crown following the oppressive acts of its royally appointed governors, most recently General Gage. The province is about to take the lead in defiantly calling for a first-ever “Continental Congress” in Philadelphia to coordinate the disparate colonies’ actions.
Northampton’s Joseph Hawley is a preeminent Patriot leader and lawyer. Hold These Truths explores Hawley’s life and his struggles with mental illness in the lead up to the first Continental Congress.
Both 40-minute plays will be performed every time and
will be followed by a brief talkback with the artists and a historian.
Commissioned by Historic Northampton, the plays are produced by Plays In Place,
a Florence, Massachusetts theatre company that brings historic stories to life with site-specific plays.
Major Funding for the Hull/Hawley Plays has been provided by the SCP Foundation
Registration for the Hull/Hawley Plays will open on July 15, 2026.
Ticket Prices
General Admission ~ Sliding Scale
$25 Regular Admission
$35 Patron of the Arts & History
$50 Champion of Arts & History
$15 (Card to Culture)
The Company for the Hull/Hawley Plays
The company is directed by Brianna Sloane and includes sixteen local professional theatre artists, including Trenda Loftin, Michael Ofori, Matt Haas, Lindel Hart, Linda Tardif, and Elijah Sarrouf.
Costumes designed by Emily Dunn, props and furnishing designed by Amy Putnam, sound designed by Tom Shread. Stage management by Nikki Beck and Madison VanDeurzen, production assistance by Hahn Rioux and produced by Talya Kingston.
To learn about other plays by Plays in Place taking place this summer, visit www.playsinplace.com
Major funding for the Hull/Hawley Plays has been provided by the SCP Foundation.
About Plays in Place
Founded in 2017, Plays in Place is a theatre company that creates new site-specific plays in partnership with museums, historic spaces, and other institutions. They have extensive experience bringing historic stories and sites to life in ways that deeply engage audiences.
Past partners and projects include: Mount Auburn Cemetery (The America Plays, The Nature Plays, Moonlight Abolitionists); Old South Meeting House (Cato & Dolly, I Am This Place, Scipio’s Balcony, Imagining The Age of Phillis); Roosevelt-Campobello International Park (Beloved Island: Windows on Campobello); the National Park Service (Suffrage in Black & White); Old North Church & Historic Site (Old North Illuminated, Revolution’s Edge); MassBike (The Kittie Knox Plays), as well as Historic Northampton (Pulling At The Roots).