May 6–13, 1999

six pick

Roger Guenveur Smith has made recreating black iconography a constant of his career. In A Huey P. Newton Story—based on the leader of the Black Panthers—Smith has found a character with painful inner contradictions: a shy legal scholar who became the voice of a self-empowerment organization, only to see his efforts derailed by the U.S. government and his own demons and addictions. "A black beret, a black leather jacket, a spear in one hand, a gun in the other," said Smith of the familiar image of Newton last fall before the Philly Fringe. The unscripted show is constantly evolving, allowing Smith to recreate Newton each night as a breathing, sweating, Kool-smoking, stuttering, coked-up testament to improvisation that embodies the man and the faces of his cause.

-a.d. amorosi

Wed., May 12 through Sun., May 23, post-performance discussions throughout the run, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914.