“Canada Lee is not a famous name, but, as Mona Z. Smith’s fine new play illuminates, it should be. . . both entertaining and immensely informative, which doesn’t happen nearly often enough in the theatre.”

 — Martin Denton, nytheatre.com

The Canada Lee Project by Mona Z. Smith

New York native Canada Lee, once called “the greatest Negro actor of his day” by The New York Times, has been virtually erased from history. A passionate civil rights activist, Lee was branded a Communist and blacklisted during the Cold War. He died penniless in 1952 at the age of 45, and his death is one of a handful directly attributed to the blacklist.

As performed by a brilliant ensemble of actors from Esperance Theater Company, The Canada Lee Project explores Lee’s meteoric rise to fame and his fall from grace. Characters include some of the famous people in Lee’s life, including Orson Welles, Langston Hughes, Talullah Bankhead and Ed Sullivan. The Canada Lee Project is based on Mona Z. Smith’s original play about Lee, as well as her critically acclaimed biography of the actor and activist (Faber & Faber), now in development for television.

Join us before the show for a wine and cheese reception at 6:30pm and a talk back with the actors and playwright after the show.

This reading is brought to you through the generosity of ArtsWestchester and NYSCA.  Arts Alive Project Grants are made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program (DEC), a regnant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature and administered by ArtsWestchester