Adam

Adam is playing at the Castillo Theatre located at 543 West 42nd Street. It runs sixty minutes with no intermission. The play closes on March 12, 2017.

The play is about Adam Clayton Powell Jr. He was born on November 29, 1908 and died on April 4, 1972. Mr. Powell was a pastor at Abyssinian Baptist church and represented Harlem in the U S House of Representatives from January 3, 1945 to January 3, 1971.

Adam takes place in the Caribbean Island of Bimini, The House of Representatives, and Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Adam (Timothy Simonson) is on a boat, eyes closes with a fishing rod in his hand. He awakes when there is a tug on the fishing rod. Adam uses metaphors of his life with the catching of the fish. Like having control over things.

The chair moves to the left, a coat rack is behind the chair with a dress shirt, jacket and tie. There is also a preaching robe. We learn about his family roots, time in congress, and the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

While in Congress he helped get laws passed about discrimination against African Americans. Five African American doctors were fired from Harlem Hospital because of their color. The whole staff was white. He was able to get them reinstated.

After fifteen years in Congress he became the powerful chairman in the house of Education and Labor Committee presiding over federal social programs for minimum wage and Medicaid.

Because he was powerful and black he made a lot of enemies. He was accused of not filing income taxes. Eventually the charges were dropped. But things were never the same.

We hear some of his sermons at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. The last scene is in Bimini.

This is a compelling story of a historical man and his accomplishments.

Timothy Simonson does a pivotal performance. He captivates you from start to finish. It makes you want to know more about Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

The stage is bare except for a chair and coat rack. In the center is a u screen that photos are put on.

This is a play worth seeing; it makes you think a long after you leave the theatre.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for recent photos. Click on a photo, then click back to album and click back to gallery for this and other shows.