The play is structured as a press interview with Thompson's eclectic sound design punctuating key scenes. "It was scarily voyeuristic and mind boggling all in one breath."īoth Smith and Thompson wanted to bring Newton's story to life using a more experimental format. "The first two days of work for us were simply sitting around and sifting through all of the recorded history that Roger brought out from Berkeley," Thompson says. He collaborated on the project with musician Marc Anthony Thompson, who describes the development process as overwhelming. To tell Newton's story, Smith was granted exclusive access to unpublished writings and personal artifacts by the Dr.
"It's ironic that a man with the discipline to build a powerful, international group died such a small, cheap death," says Smith. in philosophy and author of several well-regarded books, Newton wanted to engage people in constructive dialogue at a time when people wanted revolutionary change. He was only 47.Īs Smith puts it, "Huey couldn't channel his energies within the social context. People walked out on him, people booed him." Newton battled booze, drugs and police harassment for years until 1989 when he was gunned down by a drug dealer on the streets of Oakland. He couldn't compete with other charismatic leaders of his age: Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, Stokeley Carmichael. He did not fulfill people's expectations. "People wanted the poster to come to life. "After he was released, Huey went on a college speaking tour that he described as the worst experience of his life," explains Smith. But the movement's triumph was the beginning of Newton's personal downfall. Newton's arrest on manslaughter charges in 1967 galvanized the Black Panthers in a "Free Huey" movement that led to a reversal of his conviction in 1971. An infamous picture of the revolutionary leader sitting in a high-backed rattan chair, a rifle in one hand, a spear in the other, became a defining image of the period. Newton was a poster boy for the Black Panthers in the late 1960s. "I expect it is something like a traffic accident it's impossible to keep your eyes away." "Watching the play can be a discomforting experience," Smith concedes. But as one of those heroes who has fallen, in a philosophical and dramatic sense, his story will always be relevant." By all accounts, Smith has focused his passion into a powerful, if not always pleasant performance. "In a political sense, his story has more impact because of recent events. Smith has gained national recognition through his roles in Spike Lee's movies, from "Do the Right Thing" in 1989 to last year's "He Got Game." He'll play a detective in Lee's next film, "Summer of Sam," due in theaters this summer.īut clearly his passion is wrapped up in "Newton." "Huey is my Hamlet," says the lean, soft-spoken actor. "The questions Huey asked are still unanswered today and, if anything, become more pertinent as time goes on," he says. "This is not a period piece," insists Roger Guenveur Smith, the actor who created "Newton" in 1993 and has taken it across the country and around the world in the years since.
More than a history lesson, the play is a challenging, explicitly political work of performance art that addresses issues of idealism, equality and exploitation still relevant today. Featuring voices, sounds and songs from the '60s, the one-man show explores the tumultuous life and dismal death of Huey Newton, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party. Newton Story," to town as the last production in the year's FastForward series. In the midst of this cultural déj… vu, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts brings the Obie-award winning play, "A Huey P. In a country far away, the United States is involved in a war few of us understand. Police officers are charged with brutality against African Americans. Some of today's news events are strongly reminiscent of one of our country's most turbulent decades: Protesters march in the streets of New York.
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