Philo-Hill Teacher Wrote and Is Directing a Play that Will Be Performed on the Campus of Winston-Salem State on Nov. 21

Vivian Bivins

Vivian Bivins, who teaches at Philo-Hill Magnet Academy, has written two novels. She has turned her book Matheson's Children, a historical fiction that focuses on the lives of five house slaves, into a play.

She is directing the play, and four students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools will appear in the production, scheduled for Nov. 21 on the campus of Winston-Salem State University.

Elijah Booth and Briston Whitt

Two of the students - Briston Whitt and Elijah Booth – are students at Parkland High School.

Whitt said that, when she learned about the play, she was eager to participate. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to get more exposure,” Whitt said at a recent rehearsal at the Walkertown branch of the Forsyth County Public Library.

Whitt, who is a sophomore, plans to major in theatre when she goes to college. Her first choice is Julliard in New York. Other possibilities include Western Carolina University.

Booth, who is a senior, also likes to act.

“It’s something that I love,” he said. “I’m very Biblical and, if you have a talent, you should use it.”

He plans to go to Winston-Salem State, join the Navy and, one day, to teach theatre at a high school. 

The other two students – Ja’Nai Campbell and Deuon Campbell – go to North Forsyth High School. They were not able to be at the rehearsal that day.

Altogether, 15 people are acting in the play.

Bivins is hoping that people find the play engaging.

“I want them to be able to laugh. I want them to cry,” she said. “I want them to think about time in America’s darkest history.”

Here’s the description of the book from Amazon.com:

Everything at Matheson’s Plantation changed the day Willa came. The once orderly and systematically operated plantation started its transformation that day in early October. No one had even the slightest idea Willa was bringing with her a very potent yet clandestine source of power, so potent in fact, that sometimes she didn’t recognize its strength.

To have freedom then lose it at the hands of deceit is too much for Willa to accept. Once an African Queen reigning over her people, Willa has now been thrust into a world of unthinkable harshness. Matheson’s Children is the story of one slave girl’s quest to regain humanity and control in a land that is strange and bewildering. Bought by the wealthy plantation owner Benjamin Matheson, Willa masterminds a plan with the help of voodoo that will take her from being slave…to controller of Matheson Plantation.

Matheson’s Children will be performed in Dillard Auditorium in Anderson Center at Winston-Salem State. Advance tickets are $20, $18 for seniors and students, $17 for groups of five or more. At the door, tickets are $25.

Tickets can be bought online at www.wssu.edu/tickets. For more information, call 750-3220.