ShawChicago presents The Art of Langston Hughes, a collection of plays and short stories that celebrate the American legacy of Harlem Renaissance poet and playwright Langston Hughes. This is a one night performance on September 18 at 7 PM at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60610.
Adapted to the stage and directed by Luther Goins, this quartet of short plays (which includes Soul Gone Home, "Tain't So", Heaven or Hell, and Breakfast in Virginia) investigates the struggles that African-Americans faced during the very painful Jim Crow Laws (enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States) and during the Harlem Renaissance. "I chose these wonderful pieces because of their ability to show us the pure genius of Langston Hughes, and to open the door to his amazing sense of humor.Simple and powerful, the themes and issues of the selected pieces are still relevant today. Love, poverty, racial prejudice, the importance of money, an individual's position within society, expectations, the human condition, values and morals, human kindness, the lack of respect for others, marriage, cheating, acceptance, and the ideas that surround the concepts of Heaven and Hell. Sadly, we live with, and deal with, most, if not all of these themes and issues every day. This, in a supremely unique way, put Langston Hughes far ahead of his time."
ShawChicago is a professional non-profit theater company founded in 1994 with a mission to present the plays of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries as concert readings. Operating under Actors' Equity, ShawChicago is about to celebrate its 24th season, Dysfunctional Family Fun: 1776-1926. The company presents special afternoon performances for senior citizens and free performances at universities and libraries throughout the Chicagoland area. ShawChicago also offers outreach performances across the city and its suburbs, providing theater to libraries, retirement living communities and schools. ShawChicago is a theater company in residence at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. More information can be found online, on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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