One might think that a serious dramatic production exploring the legacy of slave rebellion leader Nat Turner really shouldn’t be taking up important stage time to invoke Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. They’d be more shortsighted than Timothy Douglas, director of Theatre Alliance’s pulsing production of Insurrection: Holding History.

This high energy piece is yet another example of the outstanding ensemble work we’ve been seeing from Theatre Alliance lately. In Insurrection, we’re treated to the return of two standout performers from their triumphant The Bluest Eye, Jessica Frances Dukes and Aakhu Freeman, who add to a cast that proves impressive across the board.

The premise for Insurrection almost sounds a little precious: academic Ronnie Porter (Frank Britton) often converses with his grandfather, the 189-year-old former slave T.J. (Cedric Mays), but he isn’t used to having him talk back – until T.J. decides on his birthday to transport Ronnie, who’s just about to complete his thesis on slave history, back to the time of Nat Turner, when T.J. himself was involved with the famous rebellion. From that point onward, plot shifts back and forth between one century and the next, even intermingling between the two at once.