Your journey starts here…
Welcome to Those Before Us: Button Farm.
This performance travels to three different locations.
The Jubilee Voices are your guide — follow their voices.
When you see the Jubilee Voices scatter seashells, press “play”.
Click the button below when prompted, and wait to press play on each memory until you arrive at each location together.
About the experience
Those Before Us: Button Farm explores the story of a freedom seeker traveling on the Underground Railroad, bringing distant memories to life through site-specific performance, song, and movement at the historic Button Farm Living History Center.
This performance is included as a part of Heritage Days, a FREE festival highlighting historic, cultural, and outdoor recreation sites.
Creative Team
Those Before Us: Button Farm is produced by Rebis, a New York City-based immersive experience company in collaboration with the Menare Foundation and Underground Railroad historian Anthony Cohen.
The Menare Foundation, Inc. is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County Government and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
Creative Director: Kimberly Dodson
Writer: Aidaa Peerzada
Performers: Baakari Wilder, Washington Revels Jubilee Voices
Voice Actor: Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr.
Creative Producers: Katya Stepanov and Jesse Carrey-Chan
Additional support provided by Heritage Montgomery, Button Farm Living History Center, Jubilee Voices, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company, and Inheritance Project.
team Biographies
Baakari Wilder —Lead Performer
Baakari Wilder is internationally known for starring in the Broadway musical Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk. He received a Bessie Award for his performance, and later assumed the lead role for a year. He has also received the Pola Nirenska Award for achievement in dance. Baakari's dancing has delighted audiences around the world in places such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, France, Africa, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and Russia. He has a Bachelorof Arts Degree in Theatre from the University of Maryland at College Park. He shares his knowledge of tap dancing through his role as assistant artistic director of the Washington D.C. based companies Capitol Tap and District Tap. He will be receiving the “2021 Hoofer Award” by the American Tap Dance Foundation at Tap City, the NewYork City Tap Dance Festival in July.
Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. — Voice Actor
Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. is the Artistic Director & Co-Founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre (SFBATCO). He made his Broadway debut in “The Book of Mormon” and was last seen at Broadway SF’s Golden Gate Theater in “A Christmas Carol”, he was seen at American Conservatory Theatre & Arena Stage in the co-produced production of “Toni Stone” and traveled North America in the first national tour of “Motown: The Musical.”
A San Francisco native who built his love and foundation for art and theatre in public city organizations such as SFartsEd, San Francisco Recreation and Park’s Young People’s Teen Musical Theater Company, and the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts’ where he graduated from the theatre department. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama.
Other theatre credits: An Old Vic Production of “A Christmas Carol”, Berkeley Repertory “Ain’t Too Proud”.
Aidaa Peerzada — Writer
Aidaa Peerzada (She/her) is a writer and performer who grew up in PG County and Baltimore, Maryland, as well as Lahore, Pakistan. Workshops of her original work include Children of the Wise (Prop Theatre), Aliyah and The Princess Jasmine Barbie (Catalyst: Theatre Think Tank, Meet Cute LA) SHINING, (The New Roots Theater Festival; SFBATCO), One Googol and One (SFBATCO). As an actor, Aidaa has performed with Marin Theatre, Word For Word, The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, American Players Theatre, and Quantum Theatre. Her on-camera credits include the HBO series Girls and the web series Blank My Life. Aidaa studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts and went on to receive her BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University.
Kimberly Dodson — Creative Director
Kimberly Dodson is a performer/director born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Kimberly has performed on Broadway making her debut in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and was last seen in the Year 2 Cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. She recently assistant directed Charlayne Woodard's The Garden at Baltimore Center Stage and La Jolla Playhouse.
Jesse Carrey Chan — Producer
Jesse Carrey-Chan (he/him) is a queer cross-disciplinary artist, story consultant, and user experience designer working at the intersection of creativity and technology. His mission is to expand consciousness through storytelling. Jesse is a co-founder of Rebis. Jesse is also a Co-Founder of North Star, a coaching and workshopping service for emerging writers. North Star applies tech world-inspired methodologies to the creative process of new script development.
As a User Experience Designer, Jesse is currently working with Expel, a company dedicated to making cybersecurity delightful.
To learn more, connect, and inquire about speaking opportunities, go to www.jesseux.me.
Katya Stepanov — Producer
Katya Stepanov (she/her) is a Belarusian-Jewish actress, facilitator, director, writer, and immersive experience designer. She is a co-founder of Rebis. Katya is also a co-founder of Inheritance Project, an an emerging leader in the DEI space. They offer an innovative approach to topics of identity at work and teach actionable inclusive leadership skills through the lens of inheritance. Katya trains and works with leaders, individuals, and organizations to build understanding across cultural divides and guide authentic social change. As an actress, her recent film credits include Dr. Death (Peacock) and Accommodations (Showtime). Learn more: www.katyastepanov.com
Anthony Cohen — Historian
Anthony Cohen is an historian, author, and explorer of the American past. An early purveyor experimental history, Cohen launched his career in the spring of 1996, embarking on a two-month-long journey to explore The Underground Railroad; the secret network, which thousands of enslaved Americans traveled to attain their freedom. Cohen is the Founder and President of The Menare Foundation, Inc., a national non-profit organization, “Preserving the Legacy of the Underground Railroad” and operates the Button Farm Living History Center, a 40 acre farm depicting 1850s plantation life in Maryland. He has served as a consultant to the National Parks Conservation Association, Maryland Public Television, NASA among others and trained Oprah Winfrey for her role as Sethe in the 1998 motion picture Beloved. Cohen received his B.A. in American Studies from American University. He makes his home near Washington, DC.