category: Play / drama
previews: Apr 14, 2005
opens: apr 15, 2005
closes: MAY 1, 2005
Performances:
thu - Fri 8.00 PM
sat 3.00 pm | 8.00 pm
sun 3.00 pm
tickets: $15.00
Tickets call: 212.352.2101
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In the mid 1930s, one of the most famous black entertainers in the world
was Paul Robeson, who won raves for his performance of Othello in
London as well as on Broadway in
Showboat; not to mention his European concert tours.
But behind the entertainment was a man enraged at the prejudices
suffered by his race in
America which, in his eyes,
was far behind other civilized countries in the treatment of people of
color.
In 1936, after many years of living abroad, Robeson returns home to the
States to work on the film version of Showboat.
However, he is just as eager to talk about his time overseas where, in
his opinion, Negroes enjoyed much more freedoms than they did in the
United States.
A major object of his admiration is The Soviet Union, which he
feels is the societal model that the
U.S. should emulate.
Robeson freely gives these opinions to the press, despite pleas
from his wife and friends to tone down the rhetoric.
As time goes on, the rise of the Cold War between the
United States and the
USSR ultimately turns the
American people against him. Things weren't helped
by Robeson's own political incorrectness of the time (he was a notorious
womanizer). Eventually, Robeson finds himself called
before the House Un-American Activities Committee - setting the stage
for a dramatic showdown.
Cast includes
Ezra Knight (Paul Robeson), Roy Bacon, Annmarie Benedict, Tom Cappadona, Korey Jackson, Abena
Koomson, Bruce Kronenberg, Robert Lydiard, John
Marino, Vince Phillip, Tyrone Robinson and Ronald Wyche
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