Local theatre company MetroStage is celebrating the birthday of James Baldwin with a show about the acclaimed author’s decision to flee America.
The show, Citizen James, is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 30, at the Lyceum (201 South Washington Street).
“It is November 11, 1948, the night 24-year-old James Baldwin leaves America for Europe,” the show’s listing said. “Young James, an unknown aspiring ‘Negro’ writer, has yet to write and publish his first novel. He has just left his family with news of his decision to flee America for refuge in Paris. He speaks no French. He has a one-way ticket and $40 in his pocket.”
Baldwin is played by Jeremy Keith Hunter, who was in a previous MetroStage production in 2018 and played James Baldwin in a different production at Mosaic Theatre.
Tickets are $20 and available online.
