originally published: 06/12/2023
(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- New Jersey Repertory Company presents a one-night stand special event - David Mills as Langston Hughes - on Monday, June 19, 2023 at 7:00pm. What better way to celebrate Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes (affectionately known as Shakespeare in Harlem) than with a one-hour-and-twenty-minute, one-person-dramatic rendition of Langston Hughes' poems and short stories.
The show is no mere recitation of Hughes’ work. Actor and writer David Mills’ performance takes the audience on an odyssey spanning five decades—from the 1920s-through the 1960s-- of Hughes’ writings, where Mr. Mills portrays Hughes’ notable characters, such as Madam Alberta K. Johnson and Jessie B. Simple. Mr. Mills enacts excerpts of Hughes’ iconic, poetry collection “Montage of A Dream Deferred,” too.
Hughes’ work lends itself to dramatic interpretation because Langston frequently wrote persona poems (poems in the first-person voices of people such as the aforementioned Alberta K. Johnson). Mr. Mills brings to life Hughes’ black characters--individuals who migrated to Harlem during the early 20th century. Mr. Mills’ performance highlights Hughes’ unending love for Harlem--with its foibles and fantasies, its beauty and brutality. Mr. Mills plays both white and black Americans, young and old, and male and female characters whom Langston created. While bringing all these voices to life, Mr. Mills also sings snippets of songs from the different eras Hughes wrote about.
The show explores Hughes’ penchant for both humor and pathos. And Mr. Mills dramatically interprets Langston Hughes’ contribution to modernist poetry--the blues poem. Hughes’ classic pieces such as “I’ve Known Rivers,” “Mother to Son,” “Theme for English B” and “I, Too” are enacted alongside lesser-known, but equally powerful Hughes poems such as Merry Go Round, and Advice, giving the audience a nuanced look at Langston. Mr. Mills also performs the short-stories “Thank You Ma’am and ‘There Ought to Be a Law’—where he portrays Hughes’ iconic character, Jesse B. Simple. The hilarious, ironic and little known Hughes short story, “Rock, Church.” is one of the show’s centerpieces.
Tickets are available for purchase online. General admission tickets are $25; tickets for subscribers are $20; and students (full-time) can get tickets for $15.
New Jersey Repertory Company (NJRep) is located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, New Jersey. NJRep was founded in 1997 by SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas. Its current central headquarters is the Lumia Theater located on lower Broadway in Long Branch. The theater’s mission is to develop and produce new plays and to make a lasting contribution to the American Stage. Over two decades NJ Rep has produced 150 plays of which 125 have been world premieres. The theater has the additional distinction of having had many of its plays produced by other theaters around the country totaling over 200 subsequent productions in the U.S. and overseas. In 2012 and 2018 NJ Rep was the recipient of a National Theater Company Grant from the American Theater Wing that sponsors the annual Tony Awards for Broadway in recognition of its contribution to the repertoire of the American Stage. Only seven theaters have had this distinction. In addition, the theater has presented over 400 developmental readings as well as introduced 136 new works through its Theatre Brut Short-Play Festivals that focus on visionary and avant-garde works. In May 2016, NJ Rep acquired a new property, a 28,000 square foot school situated on 2 ½ acres and located just five minutes from its Main Stage Lumia Theater and two blocks from the Jersey Shore. The theater plans on gradually transforming the school in stages into a cultural center that will house additional performance spaces, an art cinema, an art museum, a rooftop café, an arts education wing, and residences for out-of-town actors and playwrights. When completed, the center will present a wide array of programs in acting, playwriting, art, sculpture, poetry, music, and photography and will serve as a catalyst for economic development and as the foundation for the cultural renaissance of the community.
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