Abstract
Les Deux Noirs: Notes on Notes of a Native Son, originally part of Mosaic’s Season Four Workshop Reading Series, is now a full production and World-Premiere directed by Raymond O. Caldwell. Set in the legendary Parisian café Les Deux Magots in 1953, it reimagines the meeting between Richard Wright and James Baldwin and explores the tension between Baldwin’s searing critiques of “Native Son” and Wright’s unbridled indignation in response, presented in the context of a modern-day rap battle. Les Deux Noirs director, Raymond O. Caldwell notes, “Les Deux Noirs brings Baldwin’s and Wright’s arguments into the 21st century. Using elements of hip-hop culture that are interwoven with known historical facts, this new-work explores the complex relationship of two literary giants who hold divergent opinions around race politics.”
Les Deux Noirs by Dramaturg Isaiah M. Wooden