One-Man Play Takes Unusual Look at Life of Paul Robeson

(NEWARK) Guillermo E. Brown brings an unusual interpretation of Paul Robesons life to the Rutgers-Newark campus on Feb. 23. Brown is the solo performer in Robeson in Space, a work that combines performance, music and video. Brown conceived and composed Robeson, which will be directed by Rutgers-Newark Theater Professor Timothy Raphael.

Paul Robeson, Rutgers most famous alumnus, graduated as valedictorian in 1919, then went on fame as a singer, actor and political activist. Robeson in Space is set in the London psychiatric hospital where Paul Robeson was treated in 1961, after slashing his wrists while performing in Moscow.

Under the influence of electro-shock therapy, he attempts to reassemble the shattered pieces of his life. In seeking to figure out where he is and how he has come to be there, Robeson re-enacts fragments of his stage roles, songs, and fantasies of space travel, all the while haunted by the House Un-American Activities Committees investigation of Robesons Communist ties, which initiated the tragic destruction of one of Americas greatest artists, according to director Raphael.

Robeson will be performed at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Robeson Art Gallery in the Paul Robeson Campus Center. A discussion led by Rutgers-Newark faculty, and a reception, will follow the play. All events are free and open to the public.

Brown is a musician, composer, producer, and performer who has worked with some of the most influential figures in contemporary music, including Anthony Braxton, Milt Hinton,

Max Roach, Oliver Lake, Roy Campbell, Khan Jamal, and Vernon Reid. A member of the internationally acclaimed jazz ensemble, the David S. Ware Quartet, he has collaborated on a series of CDs on Thirsty Ear Records, and his own CD, "Soul at the Hands of the Machine," was released on Thirsty Ear in 2002.

The Feb. 23rd performance has been made possible by the Cultural Programming Fund at Rutgers-Newark.

Robeson Campus Center is wheelchair-accessible, as is the Rutgers-Newark campus. Rutgers-Newark can be reached by New Jersey Transit buses and trains, the PATH train and Amtrak from New York City, and by Newark City Subway.

Metered parking is available on University Avenue and at Rutgers-Newark's public parking garage, at 200 University Ave. Printable campus maps and driving directions are available online at: maps