In two solo performances last night, history was brought to life in compelling and hard-to-forget ways.

Gullah, the language and Afro-centric culture of blacks living in the Lowcountry regions of South Carolina and Georgia, is seldom heard during the National Black Theatre Festival.

For the past 18 years, John Amos has been bringing John Henry Halley to life in his one-man play, Halley’s Comet.

PHOTOS: National Black Theatre Festival Parade

Watch a video of the opening night gala.

Maya Angelou entered the room yesterday singing, “I shall not be moved …” as cameras snapped, applause rang out and a crowd at the National Black Theatre Festival surrounded her.

Black Angels over Tuskegee is a wonderfully written play about a group of men who must overcome forces—both outer and inner—as they struggle to become airmen and fight for their country despite the segregation that existed during World War II.

The closing segments of The Heiress are magical. The audience so admires Catherine Sloper (Chenaye Gaston), who plays the title role, that each stage in her personal growth is greeted with increasingly louder noises of encouragement.

Various jungle animals scheme to get their hands—er, paws and claws—on some delicious fruit in the spritely, kid-friendly play Before the People Came.

During the first half of Lisa B. Thompson’s well-acted Single Black Female, two women search an apartment for signs of the play’s title subject like detectives trying to solve a mystery.