Amid a humid Summer night in 1943, the relationship between three men is explored. When the Harlem poet, Countee, introduces his “friend,” a draftee named Edward, to the larger-than-life Carl- an evening of drinks becomes a  Countee, a Harlem poet whose popularity has faded, now searches for a place he can thrive truthfully in a troubled time. Edward, a young actor, contemplates his future when he finds himself drafted into WWII. And the larger-than-life Carl, an amateur photographer who retired after authoring the 1926 novel “Nigger Heaven”. The story begins at Carls lavish apartment where during a hedonistic night of drinks and dish, a peculiar photograph is suddenly taken. Inspired by letters, articles and other ephemera, this Nigger Heaven is a history play; a foundational myth calling into question how we love, when we dont, and what gets lost in translation as we search for a connects the past to the immediacy of the present. Ultimately calling into question our ideas of love and the art of friendship as we search for a Divine bond between men.

​

TRIGGER WARNING :

Nudity, Racial Language, & Homophobia