N.C. A&T Theatre Arts Program Presents “Miss Evers’ Boys”

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Feb. 5, 2025) – The Theatre Arts Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University tackles the true story of the Tuskegee Syphilis medical research atrocity, conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, “Miss Evers’ Boys.” 

“Miss Evers’ Boys,” directed by N.C. A&T classical theatre lecturer Xulee Vanecia J, is based on the true story of the four decade-long Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. David Feldshuh’s play chronicles the story of how the U.S. government withheld treatment for 40 years from a group of African American men who were poor and mostly uneducated Alabama tenant farmers infected with syphilis to study the course of the disease. 

At the center of the production is Miss Evers, an African American nurse who convinces the men to join the study, promising hot meals, burial stipends, tonics and vitamins. However, when the study’s funding runs out, she faces a heartbreaking dilemma: reveal the truth — that the men are no longer being treated and are now part of a research study observing the effects of untreated syphilis — or follow the guidance of the doctor she respects and remain silent. Trusting the assurances of the medical and research team that her men will be the first to receive treatment when a cure becomes available, Evers chooses silence. For 14 years, she cares for her patients like family, but when medication finally becomes available, her study group is denied access. Devastated by the betrayal and watching her men die to the disease, Evers can no longer stay silent. 

This compelling drama unearths one of the most horrible research massacres in America. Under Vanecia J’s artistic leadership, audiences will experience the best and worst of humanity as the characters grapple with prejudice, power and the ethical responsibility of the medical community to whom they serve.  

These performances will take place at the Paul Robeson Theatre on A&T’s campus. Admission is $17 for adults, $11 for senior citizens and non-A&T students, and $6 for children 12 and younger. A&T students receive free admission with their Aggie One Card. The performance dates and times are:  

• Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. 

• Friday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. 

• Saturday, Feb. 22, at 3 and 7:30 p.m. 

• Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. 

 
To purchase tickets, call (336) 334-7749 or visit https://itzy.io/meb. For group rates, call (336) 285-3499. 

For more information, contact Donna Bradby, Department of Visual and Performing Arts senior lecturer, at (336) 988-8085 or dbbradby@ncat.edu.