Incumbo Announces NY Premiere of 'Napoleon Beazley'

Incumbo Theater Honors Black History Month with a Premiere of Award Winning The Two Lives of Napoleon Beazley Benefit Performance to honor Big Brothers Big Sisters. Limited Engagement February 21st through March 16th at Clemente Soto Velez Center.

Incumbo Theater (Megan Larche and Ethan Baum, Artistic Directors) the company that brought you last season's critically acclaimed production of James McLure's Pvt. Wars, proudly announce the New York premiere of John Fleming's The Two Lives of Napoleon Beazley, beginning performances February 21st, at the Flamboyan Theater (107 Suffolk Street), for a limited engagement through March 16th.  The theater will host a performance and talk back with the playwright on March 8th benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Alexandra Farkas will direct this New York premiere production of The Two Lives of Napoleon Beazley.  This award-winning play tells the true story of a 17-year-old African American honor roll student who in the midst of a carjacking murdered the father of a prominent federal judge. As Napoleon sits on Texas's death row, attorney Henry Boyd seeks answers as to how and why Napoleon got there and whether or not he can save his life.

"The production employs courtroom transcripts, legal documents, media accounts as well as personal interviews, adhering to the facts of the case, exploring both the legal issues as well as a compelling human story.  As a popular, high school athlete and honors student, Napoleon was an unlikely candidate to end up a juvenile on death row.  This new play offers a searing examination of race, redemption, personal identity, and the inner workings of the American legal system.  In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's 2005 ruling regarding the death penalty for juveniles, and the December 13, 2007 abolition of the death penalty in New Jersey, this story strikes a resonant chord in contemporary society," explain press notes.

Incumbo Theater Company (Megan Larche and Ethan Baum, Artistic Directors) operates with the belief that one of the fundamental purposes of art is to challenge those who experience it on a personal, social, and ideological level.   The voice of change comes in many forms, often from unexpected places in the world.  It is with that desire, Incumbo seeks out and nurtures artists from many different backgrounds, uniting unique talents, and viewpoints under a common purpose: to develop and present new works that focus attention on and offer exploration of a wide range of questions currently facing contemporary society.

Incumbo Theater Company's 2007 production, James McLure's Pvt. Wars. burst onto the scene with much acclaim.  The production hosted a discussion and benefit for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This season, Incumbo Theater introduces two new partnerships.  On March 8th, the theater partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters for a performance and talk back benefiting the organization.  Incumbo also welcomes a partnership with the Children's Theater Company.   CTC promotes theater as a tool for learning, combining a character and ethical education curriculum that emphasizes a culture of inclusivity and service through arts-- fostering in young performers a profound conviction that they are the voices of positive change in society.

Performances of The Two Lives of Napoleon Beazley begin February 21st and will be Thursday though Saturday evenings at 8pm and Sunday evenings at 7pm at the Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Vélez Center (107 Suffolk Street, between Rivington and Delancey Streets). Tickets are $18 for general public and $15 for students/seniors (w/ID). To purchase tickets, visit smarttix.com or call 212/868-4444.  For more information visit www.incumbo.org

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