Based on the Simple Stories by Langston Hughes
Adaptation by James Vesce


Directed by James Vesce
Choreography by Jennifer Roberts
Scenic Design: Tim Weathersby
Lighting Design: Ben Johnson
Costume Design: Paula Garafalo
Sound Design: James Vesce

Twilight Repertory Company
Connelly Theatre, NYC

Jesse B. Semple first appeared in a weekly column written by Langston Hughes for the Chicago Defender in 1943. Six books and one musical later (Simply Heavenly in 1957), this remarkable character endures through numerous translations, anthologies, and performances. The Harlem "everyman", his pronouncements on everything from race relations to gender and class in America are as pointed and relevant as they have ever been.

Vesce's work on Simple began in 2000 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, while researching the poetry of Langston Hughes for a departmental production entitled Street Song: The Rhythms of Langston Hughes. Simple Thoughts was presented as a workshop production at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in June of 2004, and later presented as part of the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival. It was also the inaugural production of the Twilight Repertory Company.