The Amistad, an important piece of Connecticut history, will be remembered by the Long Wharf Theatre July 16 as a part of the Amistad America's Home Port Celebration Weekend. In Will MacAdams' Waiting for Justice: The Trials of the Amistad, the historical enactment on the theatre's mainstage examines the two years of trials endured by imprisoned Africans aboard the ship.

Based on the 1839 court transcripts concerning the revolt on the Cuban schooner the Amistad and the fight for freedom by its African captives, Waiting for Justice remembers the epic judicial battle that was fought between American abolitionists, the Spanish government and the Van Buren administration for the fate of the slaves. The ship, originally seized off the coast of Long Island, came to rest in New Haven, where a replica of the slave boat is sometimes moored at Long Wharf.

Cousin to the theatre company's recent community-driven production of The Good Person of New Haven, Waiting for Justice will feature non-professional actors, including local lawyers and judges.

Admission is free. The Long Wharf Theatre is on the web at http://www.longwharf.org. The Amistad is on the web at http://www.amistadamerica.org.

-- By Christine Ehren