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Free and open to all.
It’s 1957. Bombs are exploding in Black churches, the African American community is still mourning the murder of 15 year old Emmett Till, and lynching continues to be local entertainment in the South. Who can afford to worry about love? The truth is: When can humans afford to NOT worry about love? Amid feverish protest from many quarters, Jimmie must reconsider the publication of his second novel, a haunting tale of forbidden love and obsession in the community of ex-patriots in Paris.
Based on an imagined split second of indecision in the mind of world renowned author, James Baldwin, “Waiting for Giovanni” explores the emotional and professional dilemmas that loom over a fierce, young Harlem man who insists on being true to love and to politics.
Directed by Monica White Ndounou, Associate Professor of Drama and Dance at Tufts University, with actors from Harvard and Tufts.
The play reading will be followed by a short panel discussion, moderated by Robin Bernstein, featuring Glenda Carpio, Monica White Ndounou, and Linda Schlossberg. Following the panel, Jewelle Gomez will offer a brief response.
Jewelle Gomez is an acclaimed activist, author, and playwright. She is the recipient of a literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts; two California Arts Council fellowships; an Individual Artist Commission from the San Francisco Arts Commission; and two Lambda Awards. She has served on literature panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and the California Arts Council. She is on the founding board of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
This event is sponsored by The Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; the Department of African and African American Studies; the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research; the Project on Race and Gender in Science and Medicine at the Hutchins Center; and Theater, Dance and Media.
