[NEohioPAL] "Langston & Lorraine" at Cleveland Public Library

[Donald Boozer]

Cleveland Public Library 

To Present Ensemble Theatre’s 

"Langston and Lorraine" 

Cleveland Public Library will celebrate Black History Month with a presentation of the Ensemble Theatre play, “Lovingly Yours: Langston and Lorraine,” on Saturday, February 2 , at 2:00 p.m. in the Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium at the Main Library, 325 Superior Avenue. 

Written and directed by Lucia Colombi, “Lovingly Yours” is an original production based on the correspondence between the poet Langston Hughes and the playwright Lorraine Hansberry. 

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is the revered African American poet and author who lived in Cleveland and attended Central High School. Among his many works are The Weary Blues, Tambourines to Glory, Simple’s Uncle Sam, and The Dream Keeper and Other Poems. Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) is best known for her play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” The 1969 award-winning drama, “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black,” was adapted from her writings. 

Robert J. Williams will portray Langston Hughes. Williams has performed in the Cleveland area for almost 20 years as an actor and musician. His recent credits include portrayals of the Negro Resurrectionist in “ Venus” and Howard in “The Designated Mourner” at Cleveland Public Theatre. He has also appeared as Seth in “ Joe Turner’s Come & Gone” at Tri-C Metro Theater, Chuck in “Hard Lovin’ Gone Bad” at The Access Theatre, New York, N.Y., and “The Cancer Doctor” in the feature film ‘American Splendor.’ 

A Cleveland native, Renee Mathews-Jackson returns to play Lorraine Hansberry for the fourth time for Ensemble Theatre. Matthews-Jackson has been seen in many productions in and around Greater Cleveland. She is a performance artist who made her theatre debut at Karamu House in 1987, portraying the matriarch, Mattie Williams in Joseph Walker’s classic, “The River Niger.” Over the past several years she has directed staged readings for Karamu’s Arena Fest, as well as her own original play, “Bone Pickin,” about a fantasized reunion between Langston Hughes and Zora Neal Hurston. 

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1979 by artistic d irector, Lucia Colombi w ith the purpose of producing American classics . Ensemble created the PBS series “ Panorama of African-American Theatre , ” which was syndicated nationally and selected as one of the top 25 educational programs in the country. The company has won Northern Ohio Live’s Achievement Award for its productions of “ A Trip to Bountiful, ” “ Kentucky Cycle ” and “ Conversations with the Delany Sisters .” 

The performance is free and open to the public. Call the Cleveland Public Library Literature Department at (216) 623-2881 for more information. 

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Donald Boozer
Subject Department Librarian
Cleveland Public Library
Literature Department
325 Superior Avenue East
Cleveland, OH 44114
Phone: 216-623-2881
Fax: 216-623-7050
dboozer at cpl.org
http://www.cpl.org