Last Night, BlackVoices.com attended the opening of Matthew Lopez's 'The Whipping Man,' which stars two-time Emmy Award winner Andre Braugher, Jay Wilkison and Andre Holland at the Manhattan Theater Club at New York City Center.

Directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, the play is about a Jewish Confederate soldier returning to his ruined family home, where he is greeted by the only ones watching the place -- two former slaves who were raised as Jews.

As the three men reunite to celebrate Passover, and recall the exodus from Egypt in light of their own new liberties, they uncover a tangle of secrets -- ties that bind them together might ultimately cost each man his freedom.

BlackVoices.com caught up with Braugher as he talked about doing a play about black Jews.

Braugher: It's an interesting story, and one I'd never heard; the idea that this would be a faith that was shared between master and slave. But all families are interesting in their own ways. From my perspective, the enslaved people in the household were as much Jews as anyone else, and this faith sustained them. When you're raised in a faith it becomes something central to you regardless of the depth of your practice or the limitations or the adaptations that are necessary to do it. It's Judaism that informs the kind of man Simon is, and he grabs hold of it because it brings meaning to his life. Life is so difficult, and the institution is so dehumanizing, and it's what he holds on to. Judaism for him is the rock that allows him to continue to stand up straight.

How much practice did it take for you to learn Hebrew and speak it correctly?

Braugher: I learned it phonetically, and I talked to a lot of Jews who would correct me when I did it wrong, and that's how I did it, again and again by rote. I did a lot of research and reading and talking. There are talk-backs, where the audience comes after matinees and they tell us what they think and ask questions about it. I never miss those because an audience always has a unique perspective on the play and always let us know if we're telling the story correctly. The question is did they get it? And when I hear they got something completely different I know I need to go back and sharpen my storytelling.

Holland, who starred in August Wilson's 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone,' commented on his research to the play and working with Braugher.

"We did a lot of research. Our assistant director Carol Hainey provided us with a lot of source material. A book called 'Slave Religion,' Frederick Douglass' autobiography, tons and tons of stuff. We read a lot of slave narratives, looked at tons of photos, anything we could get our hands on to get our minds into that space. Obviously, as actors, whatever we couldn't find we used our imaginations to fill in the gaps. The time period is so dense and rich you always end the play feeling like, "I got some of it but I didn't get all of it." I don't know if it's possible, honestly, to hold all the history of what our people have been through, but that's what we're trying to do. To honor our ancestors and do justice to our story.

And working with Jay and Andre?

Holland: Fantastic. Andre Braugher is a hero of mine, one of the most specific and dedicated actors I've ever met. Ever ever ever. Jay, too. Jay and I didn't know each other before, didn't even know of each other before, but working with him has been a real treat. He's just an open, honest guy who demands honesty every moment. That's what we're trying to do in the story, to tell the truth.