When 

                                      THE BREAK                                        

                                                                        Happened in Orangeburg County

                                                                                          by Stephen E Davis (www.stephenedavis.com)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

This new, exciting full length 200 year voyage through the history of both sides of Stephen E Davis’s family is a testament to it’s running theme: FAITH, PERSEVERANCE through adversity, LOVE of family, service to country and EDUCATION for the future. The title comes from formerly enslaved individuals who called the end of slavery “THE BREAK” since they could not pronounce emancipation.

The play is based on diligent and years long research of documents, landmarks and interviews of living family members. It is a microcosm of most Black families in the South during and after slavery up to the Great Migration and the move to Northern areas that offered better opportunities i.e. jobs and education. The presentation includes a narrator, cast of family members, dialogue, music and photos of the times of landmarks, family members and documents between scenes. The scenes are meant to invoke examples family love yet major family tensions that were overcome to the benefit of the next generation. 

At every turn, education was the catalyst that moved each generation forward. While most family members could not attend grammar or high school in early times, parents and older siblings pooled money and resources, including land, together to send selected younger relatives to public school and college. After graduating from college, those younger relatives along with returning soldiers helped to propel the family revolution to greater participation in the American dream.

Women played the critical role in family development...not just because they birthed the children...many times to the ultimate detriment to their health. Since the men primarily were in the hot fields of the Orangeburg County, South Carolina planting, maintaining and harvesting crops or in the fields of Europe or Asia shooting or being shot at in war, women were the main caretakers in the early life of children. Most importantly, in Stephen E Davis’s family, they were a backbone keeping the family intact as grandfathers, father and uncles served in the military in combat in the defense of this country. 

This play tells of one specific incident that was truly sad yet inspiring of what those members did to take care of their families. The play ends by showing how all the DNA from those ancestors combined to culminate in the event of 2019. It’s intent is to show success in Stephen E Davis’s family, as with all families, is built on the “shoulders of those who came before us”. The play also vividly points out that women family members, who always guided family development in the background, slowly came out of the males member’s shadow to become equal members of family growth. 

                                    OUR STORY IS YOUR STORY IS AMERICA'S STORY!