Frederick Douglass

Roger Guenveur Smith returns to perform this theatrical monologue inspired by the life and work of Frederick Dougass, the self-liberated abolitionist and pioneering feminist. Smith has edited Douglass’s classic 19th-century texts into a jazz-infused narrative, bookended by his original writing, to produce the kind of edgy stylistic mash-up that makes up vital contemporary theater.

Frederick Douglass, an orator, writer, and statesman, is considered the most important leader of the 19th-century civil rights movement. Developed through intense archival immersion and improvisation, you will see Douglass come to life in this powerful one-man show.

“Indeed, Smith’s purposeful authorial skill is at its zenith, recalling the glory days of Spalding Gray and Holly Hughes, and his performance technique remains mesmeric. Repeated pin-drop silences alternate with chortles of laughter throughout, due in no small part to Smith’s wide dynamic range and less-is-more attack.” - The Los Angeles Times