JESSE B. SIMPLE: ALIVE IN HARLEM : Performance at St. Luke’s Church New Haven
Please help us to spread the word
Langston Hughes was one of the great African American writers of the 20th century. Among his many works are short stories based on a character named Jesse B. Simple. Actor Anthony Thompson has created a humorous but insightful one-man play based on Jesse B. Simple as a way to introduce the work of Langston Hughes to new audiences.
Jesse B. Simple is a "common" man with extraordinary insights into the African American experience.
Langston Hughes's stories about Jesse B. Simple--first composed for a weekly column in the Chicago Defender and then collected in Simple Speaks His Mind, Simple Takes a Wife, and Simple Stakes a Claim--have been read and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. In The Best of Simple, the author picked his favorites from these earlier volumes, stories that not only have proved popular but are now part of a great and growing literary tradition. Simple might be considered an Everyman for black Americans. Hughes himself wrote: "...these tales are about a great many people--although they are stories about no specific persons as such. But it is impossible to live in Harlem and not know at least a hundred Simples, fifty Joyces, twenty-five Zaritas, and several Cousin Minnies--or reasonable facsimiles thereof." As Arnold Rampersad has written, Simple is "one of the most memorable and winning characters in the annals of American literature, justly regarded as one of Hughes's most inspired creations."
Mr. Thompson will be performing at St. Luke's on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.
There will be a youth workshop from 3 to 5 and a performance of his play at 6:30 pm. A jazz reception will follow. The community is invited.
Free-will donations will benefit St. Luke's Services, Inc.
and the Community Healing Network. Please plan to come out and invite your friends and family.
St. Luke's is located at 111 Whalley Avenue, New Haven Ct
Please help us to spread the word
Langston Hughes was one of the great African American writers of the 20th century. Among his many works are short stories based on a character named Jesse B. Simple. Actor Anthony Thompson has created a humorous but insightful one-man play based on Jesse B. Simple as a way to introduce the work of Langston Hughes to new audiences.
Jesse B. Simple is a "common" man with extraordinary insights into the African American experience.
Langston Hughes's stories about Jesse B. Simple--first composed for a weekly column in the Chicago Defender and then collected in Simple Speaks His Mind, Simple Takes a Wife, and Simple Stakes a Claim--have been read and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. In The Best of Simple, the author picked his favorites from these earlier volumes, stories that not only have proved popular but are now part of a great and growing literary tradition. Simple might be considered an Everyman for black Americans. Hughes himself wrote: "...these tales are about a great many people--although they are stories about no specific persons as such. But it is impossible to live in Harlem and not know at least a hundred Simples, fifty Joyces, twenty-five Zaritas, and several Cousin Minnies--or reasonable facsimiles thereof." As Arnold Rampersad has written, Simple is "one of the most memorable and winning characters in the annals of American literature, justly regarded as one of Hughes's most inspired creations."
Mr. Thompson will be performing at St. Luke's on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.
There will be a youth workshop from 3 to 5 and a performance of his play at 6:30 pm. A jazz reception will follow. The community is invited.
Free-will donations will benefit St. Luke's Services, Inc.
and the Community Healing Network. Please plan to come out and invite your friends and family.
St. Luke's is located at 111 Whalley Avenue, New Haven Ct
Comments