The complex mind of influential author and civil rights activist James Baldwin (Go Tell It On the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son) comes to life on stage in this new drama, examining the personal and professional conflicts battling it out in the Harlem-born Baldwin (WM. Hunter) as he works on the explicit novel Giovanni’s Room. Released in 1956, the book became known for its complex and erotic depiction of homosexuality. This world-premiere play, written by Jewelle Gomez, in collaboration with and directed by Harry Waters Jr., also stars Fred Pitts, Desiree Rogers and Liam Hughes.

Website

http://www.nctcsf.org/press_room/waiting_for_giovanni.htm

Quotes & Highlights

• Read Jewelle Gomez’s on-going blog about the play.

Description

Based on a split second of indecision in the mind of world-renowned author James Baldwin, Waiting for Giovanni explores the emotional and professional dilemmas that loom over a fierce young Harlem man who insists on being true to love, to politics, and to the ghosts that live in his head.

Also starring William Giammona, Lonnie Haley, Liam Hughes, James Martin, Christopher Nelson, Fred Pitts and Desiree Rogers.

About the playwright:
Jewelle Gomez is the author of seven books including the double Lambda Literary Award-winning novel, The Gilda Stories, on which her first play, Bones and Ash was based. Her writing has appeared in numerous periodicals such as the Advocate, the Village Voice, the San Francisco Chronicle, Lambda Book Report, and Harvard Lesbian and Gay Review. She is currently Director of Grants & Community Issues for Horizons, the oldest LGBT foundation in the US.

New Haarlem Arts Theatre (NHAT), the new professional theater company of City College of New York (CCNY), will present “Blues for Mister Charlie” by James Baldwin, directed by Eugene Nesmith, from June 23 to July 17 at Aaron Davis Hall, located at W. 135th Street and Convent Avenue, Manhattan (Hamilton Heights). This will be the play’s first major New York presentation since its Broadway debut in 1964. The timely production, designed to entertain and provoke, will re-imagine Baldwin’s notions of race, class and gender relations, casting actors beyond racial lines to present a modern complex picture of American culture today.

On Feb. 18 in the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater, Staged Dreams presented “James Baldwin – Down from the Mountaintop” an original solo play written and performed by Calvin Levels.

The play takes the audience through the life of James Baldwin, who was a novelist, playwright and human rights activist.