Jewelle Gomez
Thomas Robert Simpson, artistic director of the AfroSolo Arts Festival, says writer and activist Jewelle Gomez is doing some interesting things with her play, Waiting for Giovanni.
The title refers to Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwin’s controversial 1956 novel about a love affair between two men in Paris.
“She’s exploring the theme of how do we go about making decision that may be difficult to make, but make them anyway and live with the consequences,” Simpson said. “It’s a wonderful story that blends that theme with characters from Baldwin’s books along with historical characters like Lorraine Hansberry.”
There will be a staged reading of the play at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco on Saturday, August 8 at 3 pm. Simpson says this will give Gomez, who wrote the play in collaboration with actor and director Harry Waters Jr, a chance to hear how the play sounds and get feedback from the audience.
Simpson has been putting on the festival since 1993. It started as a birthday party to celebrate his last year as a 30 something, then became an annual event. Over the years, performers have included the activist and actress Ruby Dee whose film career began in 1939, comedian Dick Gregory, and the late, great poet June Jordan.
“Last year we had an 86-year-old opera singer, friend of Paul Robeson, who went in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee and went into exile in Mexico,” Simpson said. “The thing about AfroSolo is it shows the diversity of our community- we had a 16-year-old at last year’s festival as well. We have men, women, gay, straight, young and old. This year we’ll have Morrie Turner, the cartoonist of “Wee Pals,” who is 85. The festival gives voice to our stories from our point of view.”
Simpson says that Waiting for Giovanni is a little different than what they normally do at the festival, since it’s an ensemble piece. But he wanted to give Gomez, the author of the Gilda books about black lesbian vampires, who doesn’t shy away from controversy herself, the opportunity to get feedback on her work.
Simpson says the idea of when to speak out and how that will affect us and those around us is very relevant today.
“The whole thing that happened with Gates the other week,” he said, referring to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates getting arrested while trying to get into his house. “There was a clear difference between how African Americans and non-African Americans viewed it. So do we speak up or do we keep quiet?”
Simpson thinks there are lots of other examples currently of times when it is hard to know what speaking up will mean, such as on gay marriage or the recent election in Iran.
“All of us make decisions every day about should I go along to get along or express true views,” he said. “For me can be seen on a grander scale or on a day to day decision scale, but it has to do with courage.”
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