Benjamin Lay - Reading of the play

We’re excited! Three of our local Meetings will welcome Mark Povinelli, as Benjamin, reading a condensed version of the original play The Return of Benjamin Lay. Each performance will also include a discussion with the actor, joined by historian/playwright Marcus Rediker. Invite a friend or two!

The Return of Benjamin Lay explores the irrepressible prophetic witness of an 18th-century Philadelphia Quaker. One of the earliest revolutionary abolitionists, Benjamin stood for values that continue to need our voices in 2026. What, where, and when:

Each event is part of a series of three readings sponsored by Philadelphia-area Meetings, supported by a Membership Development grant from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Experience this stunningly beautiful and historically meaningful performance:

Thursday 15 October 2026, 7pm: At the Middletown Friends Meetinghouse at 453 West Maple Avenue, Langhorne PA, in collaboration with the African American Museum of Bucks County. Open to all, but can you help the event planners with an RSVP? Drop a line with your name and number of guests via email: pmervine@aamuseumbucks.org Friday 16 October, 2:30 pm: At Friends Village with support from Newtown Friends. This venue is located at 331 Lower Dolington Road, Newtown PA. Open to all, but can you help the event planners with an RSVP? Drop a line with your name and number of guests via email: info@friends-village.org Saturday 17 October, 2.30 – 4.30 pm: At Radnor Friends Meetinghouse at 610 Conestoga Road in Villanova PA. The event is free, and open to all, but your RSVP helps us plan. Drop a line with your name and number of guests via email: radnor.meeting@radnorquakers.net Read more about the play and about Mark Povinelli at BenjaminLayPlay.com.

Welcome back, Benjamin.

My note: For those of you who don't know who Benjamin Lay was, he was a Quaker firebrand Abolitionist. He was also a dwarf who lived for a time in what were once habitable caves in the banks of the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Lay was so impassioned about the crime of slavery that he gave activist witness at the local Quaker Meetings He denounced Quakers whobought and sold human beings and he was so passionate that he was cast out of many Meetings. He is a hero of mine. There was a beautiful graphic ovel about Benjamin Lay that I bought and gave to members of my Woodbury Meeting for Christmas one year.