Octavia E. Butler’s <i>Parable of the Sower</i>

Octavia Butler has often been viewed as a prophet, and her Parable series is one of her most prophetic works. Originally published in 1993, Parable of the Sower was intended to be part of a trilogy. Butler published Parable of the Talents in 1998 but was unable to complete a third book before her death in 2006. As a Black woman science fiction writer in a field known for both its racism and misogyny, she faced significant challenges bringing her work to the masses. Like Zora Neale Hurston and other Black woman authors, her significance and impact increased significantly after her death and her words are her lasting legacy. Parable of the Sower, the book that this opera is based on, did not become a New York Times bestseller until September 2020, more than twenty-seven years after the book was first published. This text’s peak in popularity occurred alongside one of the most tumultuous times in recent memory. The racial reckoning spurred by the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police in May 2020 combined with a global pandemic forced people to evaluate the state of our world and encouraged folks to ponder what a new world could look like. The United States in Butler’s Parable does not look vastly different from ours. Faced with an inefficient government and on the brink of climate disaster, Lauren Olamina develops her own religion, Earthseed, as the need for a new world and ways of thinking became apparent. Butler’s message has always been more than science fiction, it serves as a warning and a guide.Life-altering messages like Parable of the Sower motivate you to share the message with others. Bernice Johnson Reagon, a founding member of the legendary Sweet Honey in the Rock, and her daughter Toshi gifted each other Parable of the Sower shortly after it was released in 1993.1 Toshi states that initially she stopped reading the book because the themes were too heavy for her, only revisiting it when she and her mother co-taught a class in 1997.2 In the course, they utilized African American songs and arched them over the “conditions in the book.” Toshi and Bernice, both award-winning musicians in their own right, realized how powerful music was an accompaniment to the story of Parable. Through the class they each wrote a song based on the book; they both knew there was much more to be written. The project was shelved until 2004–5.The Reagons received the theatrical rights to Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents from the Butler Estate in 2014 and had their official first workshop in 2015.3 At this point they were the only production (stage, TV, or film) company with the rights to any of Octavia Butler’s work. A more finished version of the show had its world premiere in Abu Dhabi in 2017. It has since gone on to tour all over the world. A notable gap in their tour schedule occurred due to the global pandemic and resulted in the cancellation of a performance I had planned to see. I was excited to finally be able to experience the production that Toshi, Bernice, and their many co-collaborators created, in person at the Strathmore on July 1, 2023.In order to enter the Strathmore Concert Hall, you must pass Parable Village. This was a community marketplace with more than a dozen venders and community organizations, including a food co-op and the Montgomery County Public Library. There was also live entertainment and a community-organized choir that performed, in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the book’s publishing, prior to the start of this performance. These aspects were unique to Parable and not something that is typically associated with performances at the Strathmore. The preshow activities set the stage for a production that emphasized the importance of community. Yet I was struck by the lack of community members wearing masks in an ongoing global pandemic. The concert hall seats almost two thousand people. I typically avoid theatres that do not have a mask mandate or set aside mask-required nights. I brought my portable air purifier with me and found my aisle seat, hoping these mitigations would bring me some comfort as I prepared for the show. The lack of accessibility and caution regarding COVID felt at odds with the message of Parable. I know many audience members will be encountering this work for the first time. Would they realize the incongruity between the message of the work and the audience practices?Lauren Olamina, played by Marie Tatti Aqeel, sits alone on stage throughout pre-show, writing on one of the six benches arranged in a half circle. She is wearing overalls and purple boots. As she quietly writes in her journal, she appears to be in her own world. The set was minimalist: fabric suspended from the air in a half circle, with the orchestra visible on a platform upstage. The show starts when Toshi appears on stage to great applause. Two singers, Abby Dobson and Shelley Nicole, appear to her left and right as she comes downstage center and speaks to the excited audience. In what serves as a prologue, she addresses the current state of the world and the audience’s possible apprehension concerning their ability to do something about it. She tells us they are there to sing us a story about how Octavia E. Butler made a child see God as change, the only lasting truth. The singers begin singing the opening words to both Octavia Butler’s novel and her character Lauren’s religious text Earthseed: The Books of The Living: “All that you touch you Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change.” For audience members who are familiar with the novel, these words welcome them back to Earthseed and to Lauren’s journey. For those who are not familiar with the novel, these words introduce them to Earthseed and our young protagonist. It is significant that during this first song, the house lights have not dimmed; you can see those around you as you become immersed in the production. Toshi takes her seat upstage center. The rest of the cast comes onstage via the aisles, and we can feel the collective energy of the next song, which details a new world coming and gives insight into the community that Lauren lives in. Toshi sings, “What you going to do when the world is on fire?”Lauren and her family live locked away from the world behind a wall in a community called Robledo, a suburb of Los Angeles. This wall is signified through the suspended half circle of white fabric on stage. The wall in their community is designed to keep them safe, the neighbors sing in unison: “If you have a wall stay behind it.” While the United States of America was never in a full strict lockdown, audiences of the opera post-2020 have a deeper understanding of context in which Lauren lived. Folks frequently discussed the isolation of sheltering in place during the early days of the pandemic and again during spring and summer of 2023 when the orange haze of the Canadian wildfires, which paid no regard to human-made borders, kept folks inside of their homes throughout the Northeast and Midwest. The parallels between our own world and Lauren’s were immediately legible.Lauren, like me, is the child of a pastor. I identify with her respect for her father alongside her need for her own belief system. The setting for much of the first half of the opera is the meetinghouse used as a church by her father Rev. Olamina (Neil Dawson). Through the use of familiar Black spiritual songs like “None but the Righteous,” we are reminded of the Black church’s legacy for community building. The original songs serve as a vehicle for us to learn about the other folks behind the wall with Lauren and her family and the issues they face. Drug use, looting, and crime outside of the walls of their neighborhood are increasing. Rev. Olamina’s sermon done through song reminds the congregants that the church is still standing inside the walls. Despite the attacks on the outside, they are still finding ways to survive in these troubling times. We learn more about Lauren’s understanding of their situation and her outlook through her powerful solo, she is “learning to fly, caught through terror and joy, leaning towards the light.” Aqeel’s voice is soothing and crystal clear. She has the ability to portray complex emotions through her tone and vocal abilities. Lauren’s fears and her focus on preparing herself for the end help the audience see the tenuousness of the world the community has created for themselves.Lauren’s brother, Keith (Afi Bijou), feels constricted in the community. As a young boy trying to prove his masculinity, he craves the experience that can only come from being outside. He declares through song, “I know how to take care of myself.” Bijou’s portrayal harnesses the adolescent arrogance often found in young boys whose ideas about themselves are not quite in line with their capabilities. He is jealous that his father can leave the confines of their community several times a week for work. Keith serves as a cautionary tale, after sneaking out he is assaulted and the key to the security gate is stolen from him, placing the neighborhood and its inhabitants at risk of further harm. His need to be independent threatens the whole group. Butler uses Keith to show how one person can threaten the safety of the whole community.“A new world is coming / everything is gonna be turning over/ where you gonna be standing when it comes” sings Lauren as she understands that the illusion of safety in her world is rapidly disappearing, Instead of panicking or responding as Keith did, she makes the space to learn and prepare herself for the inevitable end. The future is something we see Lauren’s stepmother and father contemplate through a beautiful duet that makes clear the high stakes of their situation. “I will wake in the morning and you come / I will stand beside you long as I can.” They are alone on stage holding each other as they sing. Through disarray, their desire to love and protect their family and each other shines through.Parable of the Sower is more than 344 pages. Toshi’s conversations with the audience function to give narrative from the book that is not performed. She also speaks directly to the audience about the process of creating this work and the organizing she was inspired to do during the early days of the pandemic. The pandemic we are all experiencing further grounds the performance in reality as Toshi makes direct connections between our world and Lauren’s world. During her second interlude, she tells us about Olivar, a community that has become privatized by a large corporation and functions as a debt-slavery camp. Many see this arrangement as their only viable option to be safe. Toshi continues to describe the conditions of Olivar and the company that now owns this city and asks us to think of a similar corporation. In almost unison the audience yells “Amazon.” These conversations with the audience allow Toshi to speak about how prison-labor and corporate interest shapes our world. She is preaching to a captivated audiences that responds with the affirmative statements in the Black tradition such as “Ummhum!” “I know that’s right!” and “You betta preach.” Toshi then plays her guitar as she sings a folk-inspired song “Don’t let your baby go to Olivar.” She invites us to sing along to the catchy chorus. There is an intimacy that is invoked in these moments despite the fact we are in a theatre that seats almost 2,000 people. Toshi speaks in an interview about primarily playing spaces with seating capacities of 600–2000 and consistently selling out. This is Parable’s second time at the Strathmore, selling out its previous two performance in April 2022. There is an appetite for this work, but I wonder if folks are viewing this only as entertainment and not a guide for our lives.The Parable performances are always unique due to shifting cast, venues, audiences, and the state of the world. Since the pandemic started, Toshi has added new songs and verses to the opera. In one of the songs, she sings about how the world has shifted for the better due to the changes that were implemented during the pandemic. Our air, water, and networks for mutual aid improved. These shifts are not permanent because the infrastructure of our world and government have not changed. She shares that the song was originally written in 2015 and she added additional verses in 2023. She jokes that she needs twenty minutes for all the lines that should have been added. This transparency about the creative process via interludes adds an intimacy and connection between Toshi and her audience. Like our protagonist, Lauren, she sings to remind us to fight and strategize, to use our genius even if it feels like the world does not appreciate it. She asks us how we are supporting and lifting up marginalized identities. She reminds us that none of us are safe. The need to create our own infrastructure and protect ourselves has been highlighted by the pandemic as a mass disabling event. We were told that we should be willing to sacrifice the health of the elderly, our children, and the immunocompromised in order to have “freedom.” The houselights are still up, and her words are landing on the lit unmasked faces around me.The high-energy song “Looked in the Mirror,” returns us to the Robledo community. The members of the community greet and hug each other. “Can’t see up above but I still know my name,” emphasizing their ability to remain hopefully and show up for each other. “I know if you call me, I will be right on time.” This joy comes right before the second attack on the community, which forces them to make their escape. Lauren has always looked to the future, so she has prepared a bag already. Her text-in-progress, Earthseed: Book of the Living, will continue to guide her way.The fabric suspended over the stage is dropped, signifying that the walls of the community have been broken and the houselights are dimmed. We have entered Part 2 of the performance. Lauren is on a dark stage with only her face visible. The journey that she has prepared for begins. The majority of the members of the community are gone, with the exception of Lauren, Zahra Moss (Alina Carson), and Harry Balter (Noah Virgile). These characters will continue to be played by the same actors, while the rest of the cast will now embody new ones. This part of the show demonstrates the community that you find and that finds you. The illusion of safety created by walls is no longer there as they embark on the road north. The gender privileges afforded men in this society are seen with their decision to travel as two men and a woman. The rampant physical and sexual violence impacted folks who were read as women to a greater degree. The presence of two men gave them an appearance of strength and not as easy targets. As they walk, their group expands. The choreography by Millicent Johnie marking their long journey was simple and powerful. They walked in slow circles around the orchestra as the stage became increasingly smokey under blue light.In Butler’s novel we learn that Lauren has hyperempathy, this meaning she shares the pain of others. “If I feel all you feel / would I know better? / If I shared your pain / would I know you better?” The use of hyperempathy allows Lauren to connect with the pain of others around her and provides an opportunity to begin sharing her Earthseed religion with others. I am captivated by the journey of Lauren and her growing circle, but I am often taken out of the performances by the coughs of unmasked folks around me. I wonder about the risk I am taking coming here. Through Lauren’s journey she finds new comrades and ultimately love. Her lover, Taylor Franklin Bankole (Toussaint Jeanlouis) tells them of the land he has available. This is where they go to practice Earthseed.We are signaled that the performance is closing with the return of “God is Change.” The reprise brings the audience to their feet, singing and clapping, rejoicing that Lauren has found a spiritual community to learn and grow with. The finale of the show ends with a gorgeous A capella harmonizing of Matthew 13, the parable that the novel is based upon, lead by Toshi and supported by the cast sitting in a half-circle.The works created by Octavia Butler, and envisioned through the artistic hands of Toshi and Bernice Reagon, are the seeds sowed by the sower. They are proof that “some fell on good ground / and from it some plants did grow. From it the flowers bloomed and in due time they came forth bearing fruit a hundred-fold.” Parable of the Sower continues to hold the power to transform lives and urge us to prepare for our current realities and the coming world. The lessons of Earthseed continue to become more relevant. If audiences are encouraged to read Butler’s Parable after attending the performance and consider how their actions align with Earthseed: The Book of the Living, this performance will have truly been a success. It is not lost on me that many of the Black feminist writers we praised battled health issues and died at young ages: Pat Parker (45 years old), Audre Lorde (58 years old), and Octavia Butler (58 years old). They were immunocompromised and vulnerable. Would attending this performance full of an audience of unmasked folks during a global pandemic been accessible for Octavia Butler? I hope that theatre-makers begin to understand what true accessibility can look like in performance spaces. 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the publishing of Parable of the Sower. It is also one year away from the day of Lauren’s first Earthseed: Book of the Living entry: July 20, 2024. Time is moving swiftly.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.