History Theater's play "George Bonga: Black Voyageur" probes identity politics of the 1830s

February 4, 2016 - MPR’s Euan Kerr interviews the creators of new play “George Bonga: Black Voyageur.” The History Theater pulls together a dream team of playwright Carlyle Brown, director Marion McClinton, and actor James A. Williams to tell the story of African American voyageur George Bonga. The story focuses on a time in 1837 he was sent into the wilderness during a winter storm in pursuit of an Ojibwe warrior accused of murdering a white man. What was once perhaps viewed as a historical oddity now becomes an examination of the racial tensions of pre-statehood Minnesota.