A Huey P. Newton Story

Joseph Papp Public Theater. In this performance, Smith creates a representation of the activist Huey P. Newton's life and time as a person, a citizen and an activist. During the performance, images are shown up-stage from activist movement era. The simple arrangement of Smith sitting in a chair stage-center makes the audience focus on the dialogue of the performer. Smith captures the attention of the audience throughout the film by putting into play his solo performance skills.^[1] Smith's idea for the performance originated in 1989 and took root as a stage play in 1996. Smith's performance attempted to show a shy individual that Huey P. Newton believed himself to be. He did not consider himself a charismatic person, although he had made many contributions to his community. Smith shows Newton as a conservative individual who is disgusted by having microphones and cameras close to him.^[2]

University of California Santa Cruz

PBS and the African Heritage Network.^[5] Smith’s performance is composed on a simple dark stage with a couple of screens in the back. The production incorporated a couple of cameras to capture different angles as well as different microphones so that scenes could be taken from various perspectives. The production that brought A Huey P. Newton Story presented the movie in San Francisco by KQED. The funding for the movie was possible thanks to BLACK STARZ!, PBS, The National Black Programming Consortium, The African Heritage Network (Frank Mercado Valdes), and the KQED Campaign for the Future.^[6]