"The Return of Benjamin Lay,” now running at Quintessence Theatre Group’s Sedgwick Theater, feels more like an event than a play. Nearly 300 years after his death, a fiery humpbacked dwarf leaves the grave. Brushing dunghill beetles off his black trousers, he sounds a call to arms. 

The Mt. Airy production also offers a sterling example of activist theater. Historian Marcus Rediker wrote the nonfiction book, "The Fearless Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist" (2017). He then collaborated with playwright Naomi Wallace to write a scripted version, which premiered at the Finborough Theatre in London in June 2023. 

The play came to life when Wallace and Rediker cast veteran film and stage actor Mark Povinelli to play Lay. (Povinelli is also a real-life activist and president of the "Little People of America," which advocates for the human rights of individuals with a form of dwarfism.)

Povinelli, who returns to the role for Quintessence’s production, is just four feet tall but a giant onstage. Donning the Quaker frock coat of the day, he moves about every inch of the plain wooden floor. Povinelli alternates calm and desperate moments, a physical restlessness that mirrors Lay's life. It feels strange; not for a moment do you doubt Lay has returned from the dead. 

In this 70-minute, one-man show, Lay recounts the signal events of Lay’s life: his experience as a nimble dwarf sailor who braved the lanyards of huge ships in stormy seas; his meeting with King George II, who had Lay hung upside-down in a cell; his meetings with Benjamin Franklin, a man too concerned with electrified kites to commit to abolition. 

But Franklin did publish Lay's book, "All Slave-Keepers that Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates" (1737). At Quintessence, Povinelli circles through the audience, handing out copies of the cover page, which reads, "...by him that truly and fiercely desires … Happiness of all Mankind, all the World over, of all Colours, and Nations, as his own Soul."

He demands a show of hands, asking, "Who would go to jail for their beliefs?" He tells us to stick out our tongues because "a tongue is for saying no when no is required.”

Director Ron Daniels' stagecraft boosts Povinelli's presence. Set Designer Patrick Blanchard scrolls a handwritten Quaker document disowning Lay onto a giant rear wall video screen. Yichen Zhou's light design underscores peak moments, flooding the stage with colored lights or casting a silhouette of Lay onto the rear wall.

In 1718, Lay married Sarah Smith, a sedate and well-respected Quaker. They relocated to Bridgetown, Barbados, where they ran a small food and housewares shop. Benjamin observed firsthand the plantation and slave labor life. Revolted by its brutalities, he and Sarah returned to England, then relocated to Philadelphia in 1732.

They finally settled in Abington Township, where Benjamin became an ardent critic of slavery at the Quaker meeting house. Heartbroken by the death of Sarah in 1735, he doubled down on his opposition to slavery in writings and public oration. His outbursts led to the Quakers disowning him. 

For the rest of his life, Lay lived in a cave, became a vegetarian, and yearned for unity with nature. He steadfastly refused to deal with any products produced through slave labor. Not long after he died in 1759, the Quakers became the first religious group to denounce slavery. (Today, a plaque honoring Lay’s legacy stands outside the meeting hall next door to the Abington Friends School.)

Much of the language in "The Return of Benjamin Lay" shades into poetry. At the same time, Quintessence’s production offers a visually graphic spectacle you can never forget, and its call to conscience resonates powerfully in our troubled times. 

The Sedgwick Theater is at 7137 Germantown Ave. "The Return of Benjamin Lay" runs through May 18.  For tickets, call 215-987-4450 or quintessencetheatre.org.