The ghost of Harlem luminary James Baldwin was at Northwestern University Thursday night- or at least that was the premise of James Baldwin: Down From the Mountain, a free play by Calvin Levels helping to kick off the “One Book, One Northwestern” program.
The two-act play at Josephine Louis Theater focused on the life of James Baldwin, the author of the book chosen for the the “One Book, One Northwestern” program.
Tony-nominated Calvin Levels, the playwright-actor of the one-man show, walked slowly on stage a little past 8 p.m., gave a few soft sighs and then informed the audience he was, in fact, James Baldwin, summoned to assist the actor in portraying his life and to “set the record straight” on a few matters.
Baldwin/Levels proceeded to tell a colorful (auto)biography, interspersed with brilliant reenactments of selections from Baldwin’s novels.
At first, the experience was a little jarring. Besides the slightly bizarre set-up, there was a brief spiritual visitation by Baldwin’s father as a ethereal blue light accompanied by some heavy-handed music while Baldwin/Levels talked of his childhood.
Baldwin/Levels’ monologue dealt with sexuality, religion, the civil rights movement, Harlem and what it means to be American, as well as Baldwin’s love affairs, struggles, inspirations, influences and successes.
Levels’ portrayal of Baldwin brought the late writer to life. The narrative was riddled with conflict and contradictions, suggesting that even from the shroud of death, hindsight is not really 20/20. The actor’s energy and moxie kept the story interesting (after all, everyone knows that he dies at the end – the main character is a ghost).
When he was describing his struggle to have Giovanni’s Room published, he pointed out a reporter taking notes and mentioned how important it was to keep writing. He incorporated some information about current events such as the Jena Six after speaking about some historic civil rights abuses. Baldwin/Levels also attacked the Bush administration and the state of racial relations within America.
Tim Levine, an audience member who first saw the show in New York, said the performance allowed the audience to hear a new perspective. “[It was] a pretty good idea of what someone who’s no longer with us would have thought,” Levine said.
Some members of the audience had yet to read Go Tell It On the Mountain, but the performance encouraged them to do so. “I picked [the book] up at the door and I plan on reading it soon,” said Mordecai Walfish, a graduate student in Comparative Literature.
The audience represented a wide selection of the university population, including professors, faculty, staff and Chicago campus graduate students. Some undergraduates were also in attendance, although certainly not in proportion to their numbers on campus.
Many audience members picked up copies of the book and fliers with information for other “One Book, One Northwestern” events. The “One Book, One Northwestern” program hopes to provide students with opportunities to better understand the novel and to discover new facets of social commentary within it, as well as encourage inter-school interaction and discussion.
The program, sponsored by a variety of institutions within Northwestern University and headed by the American Studies program, will be offering a number of free events this quarter.
A calendar of these events is available here. Free copies of Go Tell It On the Mountain are available in the American Studies office in the basement of University Hall.