“Black Boy,” October 3 and 4

Sunday, October 3, and Monday, October 4

University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street, Dubuque IA

One of the most powerful and influential memoirs in American literature will, on October 3 and 4, enjoy a live rendition at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, with Richard Wright's iconic Black Boy given theatrical treatment in a Literature to Life solo presentation that premiered at the Kennedy Center – one that boasts actor Tarantino Smith playing more than a dozen of the book's seminal characters.

First released in early 1945, Black Boy finds Wright describing his youth spent in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, as well as the author's eventual move to Chicago, where he established his writing career and became involved with the Communist Party. Because of Wright’s honest and profound depiction of racism in America, his memoir garnered high acclaim and significant recognition in the United States, and was one of very few works by an African-American writer to be recognized as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Black Boy was also featured in a list compiled by the Lending Section of the American Library Association labeled “50 Outstanding Books of 1945,” which called Wright's work “a grim record of frustration, race tension, and suffering.” Yet even in recent years, Black Boy has come under fire by numerous states, institutions, and individuals who have criticized the memoir for being anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, overly sexual and obscene, and, most commonly, for portraying too grim a picture of race relations in America. According to the American Library Association, Black Boy was the 81st most banned and challenged book in the United States between 2000 and 2009. The work's legacy, however, has endured, with Wright's powerful writing delivering an unashamed confession of a proud non-conformist and a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.

Portraying a dozen-plus figures in the stage version of Black Boy is stage and film veteran Tarantino Smith. Hailing from North Carolina, Smith moved to New York City on a full scholarship to study acting, singing, dancing, and vocal production and speech at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, a private conservatory in the upper west side of Manhattan. He finished conservatory early by landing the lead of Sundiata in a national tour of The Lion King of Mali. While on tour, Smith’s passion for classical theatre continued to grow, and, upon returning to New York, he started training with the Pearl Theatre Company, where he studied classics by such iconic playwrights as Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw, and Shakespeare. To further his experience, Smith also worked with legendary acting teacher Wynn Handman on a historic drama piece based on letters orated by ex-slaves and on two one-man shows: Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Black Boy, both adapted verbatim from their novels. Beyond his stage work, Smith has also appeared in independent films such as 2002's The Life, 2011's Battle: New York, Day 2, 2015's Robot Revolution, and 2017's Carbon Copy.

Black Boy will be presented at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on October 3 at 3 p.m. and October 4 at 7:30 p.m., admission is $16-25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)585-7469 and visiting Dbq.edu/heritagecenter.