Gem of the Ocean

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, enslavement, and racialized violence.

In the world of Gem of the Ocean, names of people and places are symbolic. The play is set in Aunt Ester’s home at 1839 Wylie Avenue. The year 1839 is significant both within the history of enslavement in the Americas and in relation to several of the play’s central themes. In 1839, 53 abducted and soon-to-be-enslaved men and women aboard the Amistad revolted, killed several members of the ship’s crew, and were briefly able to reroute the ship back to West Africa. However, the remaining crew members prevailed and the ship docked near Montauk, New York. The African men and women were captured and jailed, and the complex trial that would decide their fate garnered international attention. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court freed them and their story became an important touchstone in the fight for abolition. In Gem of the Ocean, Wilson uses this address to place his own characters within the broader history of enslavement and emancipation in the United States. Like the Amistad’s captives, the inhabitants of 1839 Wylie Avenue fight for freedom and justice. That they do so aboard a “magic” ship is a nod to the many enslaved Africans who crossed the Atlantic against their will.