Something Semple: The Power of Langston Hughes

Sunday, October 18, 2009 • 3:00 p.m.
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
1515 SE Monroe • Topeka, Kansas

Free and open to the public
RSVP by October 16, 2009 to
(785) 235-3939 or brownfound@juno.com

A performance collage created by Glenn North
Produced by Kansas City Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
Directed for the stage by Karen Paisley

Photograph: Langston Hughes.

Something Semple celebrates the writing of Langston Hughes. Four "simple" stories feature conversations between Hughes and Jesse B. Semple, an ordinary man with extraordinary ideas. Together with Hughes' poetry, Something Semple captures the beauty and the struggles of the African American experience and the power of Hughes' vision for all human beings.

Featuring a company of five actors, music, and live poetry performance, the stories of Langston Hughes come to life in this one hour performance collage. Join the actors of Kansas City Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre to visit the American Dream and explore the ideas, power, poetry, and prose of Langston Hughes.

This piece speaks to the heart of America, and the hope for all people.

Photograph: John Edgar Tidwell. Opening moderation by John Edgar Tidwell, author and University of Kansas English professor. Tidwell has written extensively about Kansan Langston Hughes.

October program co-sponsored by: Brewster Foundation .

Presented by the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research and the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site as part of the 2009-2010 program series, Unfolding Untold Stories. Download the 2009-2010 program brochure (1.8 MB PDF).
			Series sponsored in part by: