Call Mr. Robeson is a one-man show, written and performed by Tayo Aluko, celebrating the life and music of Paul Robeson, the internationally renowned actor, singer, and civil rights campaigner.

Last year, Tayo and the show won awards for Best Actor and Best Original Work at Canada’s London Fringe Theatre Festival. In 2010, Tayo won two Ogeyinka Merit Awards for Excellence for his work as a playwright and as a performer, and in 2008 he won the Angel Award for Artistic Excellence as Best Male Performer at Brighton Festival Fringe. The Guardian called the show “an admirable introduction to a great pioneering performer.” The website BroadwayWorld.com called it “a triumph,” CurtainUp called it “potent and illuminating,” and TheDartmouth said of Tayo that it was “easy to forget that he was simply an embodiment of Robeson and not the real person.”

When Paul Robeson became too radical and outspoken for many in the establishment, he was harassed, branded as a traitor, and denied opportunities to travel or perform. Just as physical, emotional, and mental stress threatened to push him to the brink of madness, he was summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he gave the most difficult and important performance of his career. The play takes the audience on a roller coaster ride through Paul Robeson’s remarkable life, and shows how even leaders of the civil rights movement came to disavow him for his radicalism. It features some of his most famous songs, including a dramatic rendition of “Ol’ Man River.”

Visit the website for Call Mr. Robeson

Photo by Carol Rosegg