With his 90-minute, one-man show, actor and comedian Stogie Kenyatta set out to capture the essence of a complex and brilliant man: Paul Robeson. Using his standup comedy skills, satire, singing and storytelling, Kenyatta tells the story of one of the first black Renaissance men. Robeson was a scholar, an actor, a singer, an athlete and an activist who experienced much success before being blacklisted for standing up for his beliefs.
Kenyatta will perform “The World is my Home: The Life of Paul Robeson” at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 and 3 p.m. Nov. 11 in the J.C. Penney Building/Conference Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. A question-and-answer session will follow the performance.
Tickets are $15 to $30. Proceeds from the benefit will help the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation finance the completion of a life-size statue of Dred and Harriet Scott at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis.
Kenyatta’s performance will cover Robeson’s life from a 5-year-old boy to the 70-year-old world-weary man. The show also covers the Harlem Renaissance, with music from Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway and Robeson himself. Kenyatta has toured the show at colleges, churches, art festivals and special corporate events throughout the United States and Barbados.
