 "Photo: Contributed photo")
The words of great writers extend beyond mortality. They burn on, stretching themselves until the end of time. The words of Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes are still burning 43 years after his death. His soul may have gone home but his spirit is here to stay.
Operatic and theatrical versions of the Hughes play "Soul Gone Home" come to University Theater at N.C. Central University this week.
The production is a joint effort of the NCCU departments of theatre and music. The theatrical production is directed by Laura Nickerson Valentine and features Tempestt Farrar and Kammeran Giggers in the role of Mother. Karen Dacons-Brock, adjunct professor of theatre, will direct the operatic version of "Soul Gone Home."
The play and opera are set in a tenement and revolve around a mother's conversation with her dead son. A major theme in "Soul Gone Home" – and one of particular relevance – is poverty.
"... Maybe there is a way to stop the cycle of poverty, and once we have determined what the course of action should be that will end the cycle, resolve to do it," said Dacons-Brock.
"Soul Gone Home" directly addresses the current economic state of perpetual poverty. "Mother and Son [in the play] will continue to give faces to the statistics of poverty that dominate the lives of real individuals every single day," said Dacons-Brock.
Musically, the opera "Soul Gone Home" is a chamber piece that draws from elements of jazz and blues. "Music and drama flow hand in hand" in the opera, said associate professor of music Timothy Holley, music director of the opera.
"The audience should be able to easily connect blues and jazz, and how they sustain the emotional atmosphere of the play." Holley will play the cello and conduct an ensemble which includes piano, percussion and saxophone.
"Soul Gone Home" was adapted into opera by William C. Banfield, professor of Africana studies / music and society at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
"Soul Gone Home" will be performed Nov. 4 and 5 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available from the NCCU ticket office at 919-530-5170.
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