The Poet & the Patrician reimagines Baldwin-Buckley debate, to February 28
The podcast is part of Us: A Black Peoples Month Festival
Adrian Neblett (left); Tariq Leslie.
The Poet & The Patrician: Baldwin vs Buckley runs online throughout February as part of Us: A Black People’s Month Festival at Ensemble Theatre Company.
ON FEBRUARY 18, 1965, a debate took place at the University of Cambridge in England in response to this question: Has the American Dream been achieved at the expense of the American Negro?
James Baldwin, an African-American novelist and essayist, argued in favour. Opposite him was William F. Buckley, the founder of the conservative National Review.
The discussion became legendary for drawing a line in the sand in terms of the racial divide in the U.S. As is painfully obvious, that chasm is just as wide today, making the discussions itself just as relevant now as it was then.
Fifty-six years later, the historic debate is being re-created in Vancouver.
The Poet & The Patrician: Baldwin vs Buckley is an audio recreation of the debate being performed by Adrian Neblett as Baldwin and Tariq Leslie as Buckley. The podcast forms part of Us: A Black Peoples Month Festival.
Neblett, a local screen and stage actor, is the festival’s co-producer and co-curator (with Marian Barry); Leslie is the artistic director of Ensemble Theatre Company, which is presenting Us.
The production is available at ETC, where other Us festival offerings can be found. The performances are free, though donations are accepted.
James Baldwin (left) and William F. Buckley.
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