Native Son

Classical Theatre of Harlem
Directed by Christopher McElroen
Cast as: Peggy

OBIE AWARD WINNER

The Classical Theater of Harlem, which has given Harlem audiences Hamletand The Black in the past 12 months, will turn to the world of literary classics for its next production. The troupe, which won an Obie Award in 2001, will present a new adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son by Christopher McElroen, one of the founder of the theatre.

Native Son tells the modern tragedy of Bigger Thomas, a young black man in 1930s Chicago who feels trapped by the racist climate that surrounds him. When, in a moment of panic, he kills a white woman who is the daughter of his employer, is seems his future can hold nothing but jail and death.

The play was famously adapted for the stage in 1942 in a production directed by Orson Welles and starring Canada Lee as Bigger. The show was Welles’ last success in the theatre.