Giovanni’s Room, is currently on stage in Philadelphia in world premiere. The James Baldwin Estate granted Quintessence Theatre permission to produce this theatrical adaptation, the first and only production authorized by the estate.
The adaption by Benjamin Sprunger and Paul Oakley Stovall (from About Face Theatre in Chicago) is lyrical, melancholic, bold, and gay. It focuses on the search for sexual identity, and does a good job with it. Sprunger, an actor as well as a writer, had been trying to bring the play to the stage since 2007, but his efforts were met with little enthusiasm as his script wasn’t considered theatrical. He teamed up with established playwright Stovall and they rewrote it. The Baldwin estate granted its approval when Quintessence Theatre took it on.
James Baldwin was born in Harlem, NYC, in 1924. In high school he found himself attracted to men, which he found troubling. As a Black man in that era, he was subjected to the discrimination that prompted him to emigrate. With forty dollars to his name, he flew from New York to France in 1948, and at age 24 began his life as a writer in Paris. For nine years living there, he had very little money, even though his 1953 novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was well received. Giovanni’s Room followed in 1956.
The play follows the winding path adventures of a young American man (Ethan Check) in Paris. Caught up in the process of finding his sexual identity, he’s uncomfortable with what he discovers. Bistros and bedrooms form the sets, with painted scenes of the City of Lights as a backdrop. and direction is precise, timing is spot on, and the actors first-rate. The play is lyrical in its pacing.
Dramatic with laughter, mirth and melancholy, there’s much talk and little movement, and it gets pretty bawdy. As my old auntie would say, “It’s naughty.” However, despite depictions of sexual acts there is no nudity. Director and co-adaptor Paul Oakley Stovall writes, “It’s been a joy to “get in bed” with the genius that is Baldwin. May we all be a little more healed by his bracing honesty and bravery.”
Quintessence’s creative team and production team are outstanding. The show has been extended to June 29. This is a play that should go to Broadway after the Philadelphia run.
[Quintessence Theatre Group at Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave] May 28-June 29, 2025; quintessencetheatre.org
Cast: Shelby Alayne Antel, Michael Aurelio, Anna Caccavaro, Ethan Check, Anthony Costello, E. Ashley Izard, Rafi Mills, Midge Nease, John O’Hara, Dito Van Reigersberg, Patrick Zhang