GOLDEN LEAF RAG TIME BLUES

SEPTEMBER 23 – OCTOBER 30

GOLDEN LEAF RAG TIME BLUES

By Charles Smith

Directed by Raz Golden with Glenn Barrett, Kevin G. Coleman, and Kristen Moriarty

Pompey is an aging vaudevillian. Depressed, his apartment is in disarray as he mourns the loss of his best friend and comedy partner, Ollie – ruminating on memories of their heyday together. Jet is a Black teenager who knows Marsha, Pompey’s adult daughter, through a support program for teens living in youth homes. He first visits Pompey’s apartment with Marsha, who leaves them together to discover an unusual connection through shared stories and music – however wary they may remain of each other. Golden Leaf Rag Time Blues illustrates the common bonds often found within shared experiences, and how our basic needs and human emotions cut across the barriers of race, religion, and age.

PLAYWRIGHT CHARLES SMITH

Playwright Charles Smith grew up in The South Side of Chicago. After dropping out of high school and finding factory jobs unfavorable, he joined the U.S. Army, traveled the world, and returned to his hometown to begin classes at Harold Washington College, part of the city college system. That’s where the lure of writing first caught Smith, and since then he hasn’t stopped adding lines to his resume. He started with ‘intern’ at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater in 1985, moving on quickly to add ‘playwright-in-residence.’ He premiered nine titles at Victory Gardens – including Knock Me a Kiss, a story centered on W.E.B. Du Bois’ daughter Yolande, poet Countee Cullen, and jazz musician Jimmy Lunceford – presented at Shakespeare & Company in February 2022 in partnership with Multicultural BRIDGE. Since that inaugural internship, Smith has written more than 30 plays, accepted commissions from nearly 20 theater companies, and produced two Emmy award-winning teleplays. In 1995, he saw his play Black Star Line become a Pulitzer Prize entrant. He also joined the ranks of higher education, first teaching at Northwestern University and going on to become a Distinguished Professor of Theatre at Ohio University. Today, DePaul University Special Collections and Archives maintains a collection of Smith's drafts and typescripts. Golden Leaf Rag Time Blues was developed in partnership with the American Blues Theatre Company and the HBO new writers workshop, and like Knock Me a Kiss, it’s one of several Smith titles that celebrate music. He’s not one to favor any one genre, either: sometimes, it is Vaudeville tunes like those of Golden Leaf, other times it’s jazz (The Sutherland, Shoot the Piano Player), or old spirituals, as heard in Cane. Today, Smith’s resume continues to lengthen. The Reclamation of Madison Hemings, the story of two formerly enslaved Black Americans, had its world premiere at the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis this year as part of IRT's INclusion Series: Celebrating Diverse Storytelling. The Chicago critics have taken note, with one (ChicagoNow) deeming it “another excellent example of his superb storytelling abilities.”