Harvard grads bring rage, despair, hope of Langston Hughes poem to stage
In 1931, Langston Hughes penned “The Black Clown,” a scathing expression of the African-American experience. Nearly 90 years later his words still sting. “Black — in a white world / Where cold winds blow. / The long struggle for life: / No schools, no work — / Not wanted here; not needed there — / Black — you can die. / Nobody will care,” reads a section of Hughes’ 17-stanza poem. From the start, Hughes was eager for the piece to have a life beyond the page. Alongside the text, he included vivid mood descriptions as well as instructions calling for his “dramatic monologue” to be “spoken by a pure-blooded Negro in the white suit and hat of a clown, to the music of a piano or orchestra.” The American Repertory Theater’s world premiere of “The Black Clown” has taken up Hughes’ challenge. Adapted by Davóne Tines ’09 and Michael Schachter ’09, and directed...