NOW ENTERTAINMENT July 20 Month 00- -26, 00,2025 2023
Your Weekly TV Entertainment Brought To You By Olean Times Herald & The Bradford Era
“Washington Black,” an eight-part limited series based on the novel of the same name, premieres Wednesday, July 23, on Hulu. Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Sterling K. Brown star in “Washington Black”
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Cover Story Making ‘Washington Black’: Edugyan novel gets adaptation on Hulu By Dana Simpson Esi Edugyan’s work resonates. By envisioning a 1960s-era Ghanaian civil servant who birthed an African American settlement in Amber Valley, Alberta, after he inherited land in her debut novel “The Second Life of Samuel Tyne,” Edugyan paved the way for the breadth of humanity she would go on to cover in her later works. Fourteen years later in 2018, the Calgary, Alberta, native’s literary world expanded beyond that of her own home province as the epic tale of young George Washington Black led her from Barbados to Nova Scotia and along the Underground Railroad to a new life. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “a thoughtful, boldly imagined ripsnorter that broadens inventive possibilities for the antebellum novel,” “Washington Black” — the name of the character and his story — now becomes a television series. Designed as an eight-part limited series, “Washington Black” premieres Wednesday, July 23, on Hulu.
The story of George Washington Black’s life is a harrowing one, described by the Library Journal as “a life so circumscribed that he’s not even allowed to end it.” Beginning in 1830s Barbados, readers — and now viewers — are introduced to their main character: Washington Black (Ernest Kingsley Junior, “War of the Worlds”), also known simply as “Wash,” an 11-yearold boy born and raised on a sugar plantation and quite literally dying for freedom at his young age. When he meets the estate owner’s nephew, Christopher “Titch” Wilde (played in the series by “Lucifer’s” Tom Ellis), a sudden traumatic incident forces Wash to flee his imposed routine of hard labor to seek both adventure and education by way of his new connections. For a decade, Wash accepts all the luck, generosity and kindness bestowed upon him, but even years later as he looks back upon the events of his life, Wash wonders why, of all
the slaves on Titch’s uncle’s plantation, he was selected to lead a free and fulfilling life. “As he navigates uncharted lands and impossible odds,” the show’s official description reads, “Wash finds the courage to imagine a future beyond the confines of society.” Co-showrun and executive produced by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (“The Twilight Zone”) and Kimberly Ann Harrison (“The Crossover”), “Washington Black” also counts “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown among its many executive producers. Interviews to promote the show clearly illustrate Brown’s pride to be a part of the series behind the scenes, although Brown hopes his onscreen role as Medwin Harris also inspires “belief and hope for modern audiences” (per USA Today). As the “de facto mayor” of Halifax’s Black community, Harris “relishes his role in creating community, knowing that there is safety in numbers,” Brown said in an email statement to USA Today, adding that
“through his relationship with this young man [Wash], he [Harris] learns that being safe and being free aren’t necessarily the same thing. And while he tries to teach Wash what is necessary to survive, Wash winds up showing him what it means to truly live.” “Washington Black” also stars Eddie Karanja (“The Sandman”) as young Wash; Iola Evans (“Choose or Die,” 2022) as Wash’s biracial love interest, Tanna Goff; Julian Rhind-Tutt (“Green Wing”) as Erasmus Wilde; Charles Dance (“Game of Thrones”) as James Wilde; Rupert Graves (“Sherlock”) as Tanna’s father, G.M. Goff; Edward Bluemel (“We Might Regret This”) as Billy McGee; Sharon Duncan-Brewster (“Dune: Part One,” 2021) as Miss Angie; Shaunette Renée Wilson (“The Resident”) as Big Kit; and Billy Boyd (“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” 2001) and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (“The Lincoln Lawyer”) as Willard and Gaius, respectively.
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