Actor brings James Baldwin to life
Tony Award−nominated actor Calvin Levels will portray American writer James Baldwin in a solo play at Stillwell Theatre Friday‚ March 24.
Georgia
(Mar 22, 2006) — Tony Award−nominated actor Calvin Levels will portray American writer James Baldwin
in a solo play at Stillwell Theatre Friday‚ March 24.
Following a 7 p.m. reception‚ “James Baldwin – Down from the Mountaintop” will begin
at 8 p.m. An audience “talkback” session will conclude the evening. The event is free
and open to the public‚ but reservations are recommended.
“Calvin Levels as Baldwin is wonderful‚” Vice President for Diversity and Community
Affairs Flora Devine said. “When I saw the play in New York last year‚ it was as if
I was spending an evening with Baldwin himself.”
The play‚ written by Levels‚ traces the fervent life of Baldwin‚ who was recognized
for his novels on sexual and personal identity‚ along with his works of nonfiction‚
plays and essays on human rights. Baldwin‚ intent on setting the record straight‚
makes his way back to earth from the ethereal realm to recount his life‚ from his
early childhood in Harlem as a prodigious reader to his involvement in the civil rights
movement. The play ends with Baldwin’s death at his home in the south of France.
Baldwin was also known as a familiar figure in Atlanta in the 1980s during the missing
and murdered children’s saga. One of his final published works‚ “Evidence of Things
Not Seen‚” is about those murders.
The performance‚ part of KSU’s Black History Celebration‚ is also part of a larger
campus collaboration titled “Bringing Baldwin Back‚” coordinated by the Division of
Global Diversity‚ Legal and Community Affairs; the Center for African and African
Diaspora Studies; and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
To reserve a seat‚ e−mail globaldiversity@kennesaw.edu or call 770−499−3010.
A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its nearly 43,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.