SummerStage Brings Roger Guenveur Smith, Saul Williams and Chicago to the Stage in August

Summer may be winding down but SummerStage, NYC's largest free performing arts festival still has several great theater and spoken word performances left.

On August 12th, in the Lower East Side's East River Park, acclaimed playwright, actor, and director, Roger Guenveur Smith will perform his harrowing monologue "RODNEY KING."

Weaving history with rhythmic words, this work opens one's eyes to the life and struggles of the man whose brutal treatment by the Los Angeles Police Department sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots and his eventual fall due to substance abuse. Smith describes the piece as a "post-mortem interview with the man himself."

Smith began his career in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" and has collaborated with the director frequently since. His solo performance of A Huey P. Newton Story, earned him an Obie award and was adapted into a Peabody award-winning telefilm.

On August 17th, in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, actor, musician, and poet Saul Wiliams will perform his latest album "MartryLoserKing." Written and recorded between Senegal, Reunion Island, Paris, Haiti, and New Orleans and New York, Martyr Loser King is a multimedia project that engages the digital dialogue between the 1st and 3rd Worlds, and the global street sounds that yoke the two.

You might recognize Williams as the lead actor in Holla If Ya Hear Me, the 2014 Tupac Shakur-inspired Broadway musical directed by Kenny Leon.

On August 31st, in Central Park, the final free show of the 2016 season celebrates the 20th anniversary of the hit Jazz Age Broadway musical, Chicago, with performances featuring the current cast.