Are You Now or Have You Ever Been... at University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players

In MARCH of 1953, Langston Hughes, African American poet, novelist, and political activist, faced off with Red-baiters Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn when he was accused of perceived communist influences in his writing.

Playwright Carlyle Brown uses this historical event in an imaginative look of Hughes' history and creativity in "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...", presented in audio form by the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP), NOVEMBER 13 through NOVEMBER 22. The free audio presentation will be streamed online at www.rep.udel.edu and broadcast on WVUD radio 91.3 FM and at www.wvud.org.

"I was acquainted with his poetry, but not his personal history," says REP actor René Thornton Jr, who plays Langston Hughes in this audio production. "Hughes' work and activism had international reach. He was known as a jazz-poet, but he wrote in so many different genres. His impact on a generation of younger poets and writers was profound.

"But I didn't realize that he was called to testify before McCarthy and his committee, where they accused him of being a communist and asked him to turn over names of other writers and artists accused of the same.

"It was an honor to inhabit his voice and tell part of his history. The notion of having to sit in front of a group of powerful people and justify your actions, creations, and even your existence remains relevant today. There are still people in positions of authority who are trying to control group thought, group actions, and individual freedoms."

In a 2012 interview with Minneapolis' Citypages, the playwright explained that he used the play to look at how an artist struggles with nuance and complexity. Brown said that Hughes' relationship with the platform of the Communist Party (with which Hughes was never an official member) is a complex one that should be put into context within the social and political forces of the period. At that time, Brown stated, "there were no white people who did anything for social justice for black people, except the communists."

"Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been..." was directed by REP company member Hassan El-Amin. The cast includes REP company members René Thornton Jr. as Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Heflin as Stage Directions/Texts, Kathleen Pirkl Tague as Stage Directions/Texts, Michael Gotch as Senator Dirksen, Lee Ernst as Roy Cohn, Mic Matarrese as David Schine, Stephen Pelinski as Joseph McCarthy, and Hassan El-Amin as Frank Reeves. The sound design was created by Eileen Smitheimer.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THIS FREE AUDIO PRODUCTION

Streaming anytime online Friday, NOVEMBER 13 through Sunday, NOVEMBER 22 at https://www.rep.udel.edu/presentations/are-you-now-or-have-you-ever-been.

Radio broadcast Friday, NOVEMBER 13 at 7:00 PM and Sunday, NOVEMBER 15 at 10:00 PM on WVUD 91.3 FM and www.wvud.org