Special Screening
UMS thanks Michigan Engineering for its support as Lead Presenting Sponsor of Some Old Black Man.
Enjoy this special screening for the University of Michigan community, starting Feb 24. (Note: includes instances of strong language and descriptions of racial violence)
Please consider a donation to keep digital presentations like this accessible to all.
About the Production
In Some Old Black Man, Calvin Jones (Wendell Pierce), a hip, coolly intellectual African-American college professor, moves his 82-year-old ailing but doggedly independent father, Donald Jones (Charlie Robinson), from Greenwald, Mississippi into his Harlem penthouse.
The play begins with an argument over what to eat for breakfast, then turns into a generational clash over race, opportunity, and a decision that Calvin made years ago. Donald’s grumpiness is peppered with disturbing outbursts, revealing bits of his past, informed by growing up Black and poor in the South. Donald is wary that he isn’t seen by his gifted, accomplished son as being good enough, and Calvin resents Donald as being a self-righteous, relentlessly tough parent. Father-son strife escalates when their generational conflict is lensed through civil rights.
Thank you to our supporters
Lead Presenting Sponsors
Tim and Sally Petersen
Presenting Sponsors
Newmarket LLC
Patron Sponsor
Jerry and Dale Kolins Endowment Fund
Funded in part by
UMS Sustaining Directors
