“Before The Dream: The Mysterious Death (& Life) of Richard Wright”

“Before The Dream: The Mysterious Death (& Life) of Richard Wright” celebrated the centennial of the pioneering African-American writer. A script was developed based on a series of readings in theaters, libraries, and community centers across the Bay Area, and then given a full theatrical production September 2008 at the Noodle Factory, Oakland.

“Before the Dream” explored Wright’s life among the Black American expatriates who lived in Paris during the early 20th Century, highlighting his often-contentious relationship with the young James Baldwin. Wright was the author of the 1940s bestseller “Native Son, and seminal figure in what would become the Civil Rights Movement. He died in Paris in 1960 under mysterious circumstances. The was a “literary mosaic” that explored Wright’s life from his own perspective, as well as that of Baldwin and other important figures. The show received positive reviews and write-ups in The San Francisco Guardian and The Berkeley Daily Planet.