Following critically acclaimed runs in New York City and London, TimeLine is bringing to Chicago the american vicarious’ radically staged production of the historic debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr., on the occasion of the event’s 60th anniversary.
“Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?” This was the topic on February 18, 1965 when an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to bear witness to a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America’s most influential conservative intellectual. The stage was set for an epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin’s call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley’s unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy. This historic clash reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of racial conflict that continues to haunt America.
TimeLine is thrilled to partner with the internationally acclaimed company the american vicarious and The Theatre School at DePaul University—the Midwest’s leading theatre conservatory and the alma mater of TimeLine’s founders—to present this theatrical event at DePaul’s Cortelyou Commons, which replicates the Cambridge Union where the original debate was held. It will be an immersive, site-specific production tailor-made for Chicago.
Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley will feature Teagle F. Bougere as Baldwin and Eric T. Miller as Buckley in the cast. Additional casting and production team members are to be announced.
