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Ato Essandoh as Bigger Thomas. Photo by Chris Bennion
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Richard Wright’s landmark novel about racism, class and economic inequality, came to the stage in a new adaptation of Richard Wright and Paul Green’s play Native Son, adapted and directed by Kent Gash. Native Son featured Ato Essandoh as Bigger Thomas and an original score composed and performed live on stage by musician Chic Street Man. Featured in the ensemble were Earl Alexander, Ken Grantham, Kimberly King, Richard Kline, Felicia V. Loud, Carol Roscoe, Lukas Shadair, MJ Sieber and Myra Lucretia Taylor. The creative team for Native Son included scenic designer Edward E. Haynes Jr., costume designer Frances Kenny, lighting designer William H. Grant III, sound designer Joseph Swartz, fight director Geoffrey Alm and dialect coach Judith Shahn. The
New York
casting was by Janet Foster, C.S.A. and the stage manager was Wendiana Walker.
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Richard Wright
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Richard Wright’s novel, originally published in 1940, was the centerpiece of numerous public programs that inspired dialogue about poverty, power and the state of race relations in
America
. The Native Son Community Committee was co-chaired by nonprofit governance consultant Dorothy H. Mann, Ph.D and Herman McKinney, Vice President Urban Affairs, Executive Director,
Urban
Enterprise
Center
, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
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2006 Community Reading of Native Son
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Front Porch Theater:
With our partners, INTIMAN co-hosted seven public readings of excerpts from Richard Wright’s novel Native Son at a wide range of venues, followed by conversations about ideas and issues raised by the book moderated by a professional facilitator. Readings took place at the Seattle Public Library, Central Branch, in partnership with the Tupac Shakur Book Discussion Group; the Starbucks on 23rd & Jackson (Central District); Seattle Public Library, Lake City Branch; Seattle Public Library, Beacon Hill Branch; Faire Café (Capitol Hill); Wellington Restaurant (Columbia City), in partnership with the Technology Access Foundation; and South Seattle Community College. In addition, a closed reading was held at the King County Juvenile Detention Center. |
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2006 Rough Eagles at retreat
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Rough Eagles/Open Minds/Open Dialogue
“Native Sons and Daughters,” the 2006 collaboration between Cleveland and Roosevelt high schools, was performed on the set of Native Son on Monday, November 6 followed by an Open Minds/Open Dialogue post-play discussion with the students. The performance was directed by Tyrone Brown, a member of the Native Son Community Committee and artistic director of BROWNBOX Theatre. Playwrights Kathya Alexander and Vince Delaney and teaching artists from INTIMAN’ education staff also worked with the students to develop the play. Rough Eagles was sponsored in part by Wells Fargo, with additional support by Seattle Rotary Services Foundation and Fales Foundation Trust |
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 Charles Johnson
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Writers & Artists
INTIMAN was honored to host as this season’s Writers & Artists speaker Charles Johnson, one of the foremost writers in contemporary letters and a distinguished thinker on a wide range of subjects. Dr. Johnson, a1998 MacArthur “genius award” recipient, is the author of four novels including Middle Passage, for which he received the 1990 National Book Award. A former director of the creative writing program at the University of Washington, he holds an endowed chair, the S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Professorship for Excellence in English (the first chair in writing at UW), and currently teaches fiction. His lecture, which included questions from the audience, followed the matinee performance on November 12. |
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