ArtsEmerson

From April 21-24th, Toshi’s company will perform “Parable” in ArtsEmerson’s 1200-seat Cutler Majestic. We expect to reach approximately 4,500 people with the show. Following the performances, events will be designed by our partners and produced with the support of ArtsEmerson’s team in the various participating localities where these partners work. Based on the classic sci-fi novel by Afro-futurist author Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower is a genre-defying, modern congregational opera that celebrates two centuries of Black music. Written by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon, Parable chronicles the spiritual awakening of Lauren Olamina amidst an America plagued by the products of unrelenting greed, systemic injustice and climate change denial. Parable of the Sower transforms the operatic form, fusing African-American spiritualism, deep insights into gender and race, and climate activism into a new musical experience that thrills and inspires.