As America celebrates 250 years, Ford’s Theatre in Northwest D.C. is presenting “1776,” featuring a diverse cast of talented actors who, with passion, humor and some superb high-stepping, illustrate the determination of and challenges faced by the nation’s Founding Fathers in the struggle for independence from the British monarchy.
Further, as the nation navigates war, federal cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion and threats to cut funding for teaching about certain parts of Black history — such as slavery — this production of “1776,” running until May 16, challenges notions of independence, as America’s forefathers sought independence from England, while still endorsing slavery and the oppression of women.
While sticking to the script, this production beautifully challenges what people traditionally imagine when viewing the story of America’s founders. Actors Derrick D. Truby Jr. and Kanysha Williams, playing Benjamin Franklin and Abigail Adams, are African Americans playing white historical figures.
“We have an interesting script which must be followed, and which is interesting and illustrates the battles that ensued among Franklin and others at the Continental Congress,” Derrick D. Truby Jr. told The Washington Informer. “But for me, as a Black man, I had to wrestle with the fact that men like Franklin and John Adams understood that for them to achieve a united front, they had to forgo any considerations of Black people as people.”
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Truby shared the hurdles he has faced as a Black actor, standing in the shoes of an iconic White American who has been heralded as a staunch proponent of liberty, and freedom of both speech and the press, but who, in other ways, walked lockstep with his colleagues.
Throughout most of his life, Franklin bought, traded, and owned slaves, and profited by being a slaveowner.
“That was a difficult stance for me to take. And then there’s the script which is riddled with subtexts,” Truby said. “Sure, there are complications in playing the role, but it’s also been fulfilling, exciting and at times, even a bit scary.”
In the late 1780s, Franklin officially became an outspoken opponent of slavery and abolitionist, even submitting a major anti-slavery petition to Congress in 1790, the same year in which he died at the age of 84.
Truby wanted to make sure he is honest in portraying his complicated character.
“One thing for sure, I did not want to come off as an Uncle Tom who represented a singular point of view,” he continued. “I believe I’ve made my grandmother proud of me.”
Williams said after being chosen for her role, she realized that she had big shoes to fill, as the DMV native quickly learned Abigail Adams was far more than just the wife and mother of America’s second and sixth heads of state, respectively— former Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
According to public records, she was also a women’s advocate, a political advisor to her husband, a champion of education, an abolitionist, and an independent steward who managed the family’s farm, finances, and household as her Founding Father spouse spent long periods away from home.
“What I like about this production and the role I play is how well the script allows us to humanize the people we portray,” Williams told The Informer. “It makes it clear that they were humans trying to do things that had never been done before. But as all know, people often make a mess of things. So, while the Founding Fathers and others, including women like Abigail Adams, may tend to be glamorized 250 years later, this production helps us to see them more accurately, through a more human lens.”
Both Truby and Williams emphasized the significance of Ford’s staging “1776” as the nation nears its official semiquincentennial on July 4.
A graduate of the District’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts and George Mason University, Williams also said that audiences can learn a great deal from “1776.”
“I hope audiences will see that those who led our nation before it was a nation, were able to disagree with one another and still not walk away as enemies,” Williams said. “It seems that in America today, particularly within the political realm, those who hold views that are different from the status quo – that is, those in power – are often labeled and treated like bad people. But can you imagine a world in which we can debate and respect one another and still be able to coexist in harmony? That’s what America needs now.”
Truby also highlighted the message of unity within the musical.
“The last line I say to Congress in the play is, “If we don’t hang together, we will assuredly hang separately,” said Truby. “Even if we are not friends, there must be mutual respect. It’s time that today’s leaders find a way to reach across the political aisle and find commonality.”
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Before seeing the musical on March 19, University of Texas student Sydney Camilletti hoped the play would offer her a lot of insight about American history.
“I’ve never heard of this play before, but I hope it will help me gain a more intimate knowledge of who the Founding Fathers were and the things they sought to accomplish,” Camilletti, 21, told The Informer. “It’s a great way to connect to real life people from the past and to then recontextualize them in my mind, which I know I’ll do after I see the play.”
Camilletti was one of a group of University of Texas students enrolled in Shema Mbyirukira’s class: “The Politics of National Memory” to see the musical on that Thursday in mid-March. Mbyirukira, a D.C.-based adjunct professor teaching the semester-long course, said the young adults had mixed feelings about some of the American history featured in the musical.
“The consensus seems to be that the production, while entertaining and traditional in many ways, was also unsettling for several of them, particularly the emphasis on Thomas Jefferson’s romantic life and interests which brought to mind the situation with Sally Hemmings,” Mbyirukira said. “That, in turn, led to comments from a few of my students on the torrid, racial history of slavery that is part of American history.”
Mbyirukira wondered if some of the “1776” script — with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and book by Peter Stone — resonated differently for audiences, than it did in 1969, when the play made its Broadway debut.
“Other students said they thought the play missed the mark on several critical points and while I don’t disagree, I think in fairness, we may be looking at the storyline and subtext too critically and through 2026 eyes,” the professor continued.
The stories of the Founding Fathers, Joe Haynes-Stewart is learning, are among a long list of complicated historical American narratives that involve slavery, oppression and more.
“This course, and especially our visit to Ford’s Theatre, continue to remind me that we think about and reimagine the meaning of national monuments differently based on how we’ve been raised and how we see ourselves fitting into American society,” Haynes-Stewart, 21, said.
For the students, viewing a musical at the historic Ford’s Theatre, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, was fascinating.
“They appreciated the interplay of the past frozen in time while alternatively being provided the opportunity to engage in America’s national memory all in the same space,” Mbyirukira told The Informer. “[Now] the real work for us will begin when we sit down for a critical analysis of the play and share our feelings [about] its messages.”
As he approaches the role of a Founding Father every time he steps on stage, Truby emphasized one of the larger messages he’s learned from tackling Franklin in “1776.”
“Despite our differences, and no matter how much money a person makes or how they make it,” he said, “we all want and deserve to live freely.”