Bernardo Solano's LANGSTON & NICOLAS 4/2 (LA)

Towne Street Theatre
LA's Premiere African American Theatre Company
presents
the World Premiere of a New Play
by Bernardo Solano

LANGSTON & NICOLAS

Told through poetry, music and dance, LANGSTON & NICOLAS explores the friendship between iconic African American poet Langston Hughes and Afro-Cuban poet laureate Nicolas Guillen. Written by Bernardo Solano and co-commissioned by Towne Street Theatre and the Robey Theatre Company, LANGSTON & NICOLAS is the story of two men, two countries, two dreams and one enduring friendship.

LANGSTON & NICOLAS will open Friday, April 9th and continue through Sunday, May 2nd. There will also be three half-priced previews - Fri 4/2, Sat 4/3, and Thu 4/8. All performances are at the Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., (corner of Hollywood & Highland) Los Angeles, California 90028. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 3:00 PM.

Conceived and directed by Towne Street Theatre Artistic Director, Nancy Cheryll Davis, this production of LANGSTON & NICOLAS is made possible in part by funding from The Ford Foundation and the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

Tickets for LANGSTON & NICOLAS can be purchased online at their website (click post's title to take you there). Regular tickets are $25.00, with discounts for seniors, students, and union members with ID. For additional information, email Towne Street Theatre at info@townestreet. org or call (213) 624-4796.

SYNOPSIS
Havana, 1930. Young journalist Nicolas Guillen harbors dreams of becoming a poet. Langston Hughes visits Havana in search of a composer for a new opera. After Nicolas interviews Langston for a local newspaper, the two men inimitably bond. Langston's keen interest in black Cuban life impresses Nicolas, who guides him to a vibrant Afro-Cuban club; allowing a glimpse of Cuba never experienced by an average tourist. Their meeting also empowers Nicolas - perhaps he can speak for black Cuba the same way that Langston is speaking for black America?

After Langston leaves Cuba, their profound connection is kept alive through letters. Nicolas is inspired to write poetry marrying the vernacular of contemporary black Cuba with the native musical style of Son (mirroring Langston's poetic mesh of African American vernacular and Blues music). The play explores their friendship over the next thirty years - covering the Spanish War, the Cuban Revolution, and the Civil Rights movement - to Langston's death in 1967. As with all friendships, theirs is a tapestry woven of joy, conflict, and demands from each other - some that are met, some that are not.