Black Boy: A One Man Play starring Tarantino Smith

Kings Bay Library Presents Literature to Life stage presentation of

Black Boy by Richard Wright
Performed by Tarantino Smith
Adapted and Directed by Wynn Handman
Based on the novel Black Boy by Richard Wright, © 1945

 

When: Saturday, July 25, 2026 at 2 pm

ages: Teen and Adults

Where: Kings Bay Library, Community Room

 

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ABOUT BLACK BOY

Based on the novel Black Boy by Richard Wright

Adaptation and Direction: Wynn Handman

Performed by Tarantino Smith

Black Boy is a powerful account of one young man's journey from innocence to experience as a black youth living in the Jim Crow South. It is both the unashamed confession of a proud non-conformist and a profound indictment—a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering. Having premiered at the Kennedy Center, this Literature to Life original was one of the first titles on LTL’s roster to tour to communities nationally. A tour de force, the actor Tarantino Smith plays more than fifteen characters from Richard Wright's past.

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ACTOR BIO

Tarantino Smith, Actor: Hailing from North Carolina, Tarantino moved to New York City on a full scholarship to study acting, singing, dancing, and vocal production & speech at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy - a private conservatory in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He finished conservatory early by landing the lead of Sundiata in a national tour of The Lion King of Mali. While on tour, his passion for classical theatre continued to grow, and upon returning to NYC he started training with The Pearl Theatre Company where he studied classics such as Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw, and Shakespeare. To further his experience, he also worked with legendary acting teacher Wynn Handman on a historic drama piece (based on letters written, or rather orated, by ex-slaves) and on two one-man shows: Ralph Ellisons' Invisible Man and Richard Wrights' memoir Black Boy - all adapted verbatim from the novels. In Black Boy, Tarantino tells the story of a black boy growing up in the Jim Crow South, transitioning through a "tour de force" of 20 different characters. Though his passion for his craft was developed and continues to develop on the stage, he has also appeared in a few independent films such as The Life (2002), Battle, New York Day 2 (2011), Robot Revolution (2015), and Carbon Copy (2017). 

 

QUOTE

“If this country can't find its way down a Human path, if it can't inform conduct with a deep sense of life...then all of us, Black as well as White, are heading down the same drain.” 

 

LINK TO YOUTUBE CLIP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pImSwCm31Eo

LINK TO LTL TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UnCJIkPPNo