CALL MR. ROBESON Set for First Annual CSC Fringe Festival

Call Mr. Robeson, an award winning play from UK is to be performed at an international presentation by Centenary Stage Company as part of the first ever CSC Fringe Festival. Performances will run November 12 through 15 in the Lackland Center located in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

This rollercoaster journey through actor/singer Paul Robeson's remarkable life highlights his pioneering and heroic political activism as well as his music. It features Ol' Man River and other famous songs, much fiery oratory, and a defiant testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Written and performed by Nigerian-born, UK-based playwright and singer Tayo Aluko with piano accompaniment by New York pianist Dennis Nelson, Call Mr. Robeson was chosen by the UK Guardian's theatre as his top pick for things to see in London January 2011.

The play received a standing ovation at New York's Carnegie Hall February 2012 and was staged in London's West End October 2013. It has sold out several theatres internationally, including all seventeen performances of a 2015 tour of New Zealand and Australia.

Call Mr. Robeson enjoyed a 4-week residency at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, October 2013 where BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends presenter Clive Anderson saw it and later described it as one of the most memorable plays of the year.

Call Mr. Robeson has won numerous awards against international competition including Best Musical Performance at the Atlantic Fringe in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 2013, Best Solo Show at the Stratford-upon-Avon Fringe, June 2013 and the Argus Angel Award for Artistic Excellence and the Best Male Performer Award at the Brighton Fringe, May 2008.

What the critics said:

"First-rate. A fine job" (4 stars) The Guardian
"Simply told but immensely powerful." (4 stars) The Scotsman
"A thrilling, moving and marvelously entertaining musical drama... totally soulful and convincing" Latest 7 Magazine
"Aluko is a force of nature. Never less than utterly believable" (5 stars) British Theatre Guide
"A stunning piece of musical theatre" (5 stars) Fringe Review
"A must-see experience. A treasure of a show. TOP PICK!" DC Theater Scene

Architect-turned-actor Aluko said, "It is tremendously exciting for me as a Nigerian based in the UK to be coming to perform Call Mr. Robeson to students and the wider community in the very state of Paul Robeson's birth. I am always gratified by the positive reaction of newcomers (and those familiar with Robeson) to the play, so I am quite confident that it will go down particularly well in Hackettstown. I'm really looking forward to being at Centenary Stage Company."

Call Mr. Robeson. A Life, With Songs is written and performed by Tayo Aluko with piano by Dennis Nelson, directed by Olusola Oyeleye and designed by Phil Newman. Performances are Thursday November 12 at 7:30pm, Friday November 13 and Saturday November 14 at 8:00pm and Sunday November 15 at 2:00pm. Tickets range from $22.50 to $25.00. Thursday evening is a Rush Ticket Special buy one get one free when purchased in person at the CSC box office. All ticket sales are final. All performances are located in the Lackland Center in Hackettstown, NJ.

For more information or to purchase tickets visit centenarystageco.org or call the box office at (908) 979 - 0900. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 - 5pm and two hours prior to every performance. The box office is located in the Lackland Center in Hackettstown, NJ.

The 2015-16 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Premier Season Sponsor Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), The Holiday Inn in Budd Lake, and Fulton Bank of New Jersey, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.

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