Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...
Thoughts from the Director and Writer
All the shows I have watched in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater have been the most touching. It is such an intimate setting, you always feel so connected to the actors. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been was no exception.
This play written by Carlyle Brown and directed by Noël Raymond is about American Poet, Langston Hughes. Set in Harlem in 1953, the night before Hughes is to face the U.S. Senate Committee on un-American activities. Sen. Joseph McCarthy has subpoenaed Hughes based on his written word, suspecting him of Communism.
Gavin Lawrence, who plays Hughes, is outstanding. The first hour, Lawrence is on stage alone embracing all that Hughes was....showing & telling us his deepest emotions and fears. It was an excellent portrayal of a writer. A true testament of the process one goes through to create something. The angst and pain one feels and then the birth of writing that first perfect sentence. I felt like I was seeing into Hughes soul.
Lawrence performs with so much passion. He recites Hughes poems in the most smooth, jazz, poetic voice and the setting was perfect with the words floating up behind him on a black screen. I didn't want it to end and could have listened to him for hours.
This play is very thought provoking, putting art and creation on trial. Showing how each person reading the same sentence can pull so many different meanings. How poems are not usually meant to be taken literally...or are they?
Three showings left this weekend. Get out of the heat and in to the comforts of the Guthrie!
Guthrie Theater
www.guthrietheater.org
818 South Second Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415
.jpg)
