Photos: First Look Of DEBATE: BALDWIN VS. BUCKLEY At Nate Holden Performing Arts Center

Ebony Repertory Theatre, in association with the american vicarious (producing director Erica Laird), will present the West Coast premiere of DEBATE: BALDWIN VS. BUCKLEY. Check out photos from the show. Staged in a raw setting that places audiences on the mainstage of the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, fully surrounded by the actors. 

Adapted and directed by Christopher McElroen (the american vicarious’ Static Apnea, Harlem Stage’s Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation), this powerful play brings to life the historic 1965 Cambridge Union debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley, portrayed by Teagle F. Bougere (Broadway’s The Tempest and A Raisin in the Sun) and Eric T. Miller (Off-Broadway LAByrinth’s Sweet Storm, Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Mope), respectively. The critically acclaimed production runs through May 11, 2025, at 4718 West Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles. 

“Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?” This was the topic on February 18, 1965 when an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to bear witness to a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America’s most influential conservative intellectual. DEBATE: BALDWIN VS. BUCKLEY recreates the epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin’s call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley’s unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy. This historic clash reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of racial conflict that continues to haunt America.

In addition to Bougere and Miller, DEBATE: BALDWIN VS. BUCKLEY features Cole Wagner (Pepperdine University’s The Music Man) as Heycock and Frankie Zabilka (Pasadena Playhouse’s Grumpy Monkey) as Burford.

Performance schedule is Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. The production runs 60 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $25 and are available at EbonyRep.org or by phone at 323-964-9766. For more information, visit theamericanvicarious.org.

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