NOW VS. THEN
A historic confrontation between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., America’s most influential conservative intellectual, took place on February 18, 1965 in a packed Cambridge Union in England. Broadcast live on the BBC and later re-broadcast across America, the question up for debate was: “Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?”
The Chicago premiere of the debate’s dramatization, adapted and directed by Christopher McElroen, is a stunning portrayal of this event that takes on new significance in 2025.
In Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley, Teagle F. Bougere embodies James Baldwin with familiarity and delivers on the poetry of Baldwin’s words. With a toothy unsettling smile, Eric T. Miller brings us William F. Buckley Jr. in all his sesquipedalianism. DePaul University students Jack Baust, Quintin Craig, Alex Perez, and Aspen Tyson alternate performances playing two young Oxford student debaters.
TimeLine, American Vicarious, and The Theatre School at DePaul University chose to present this play in an unusual setting, and it pays off. Sitting in-the-round in Cortelyou Commons—once the dining hall of the former McCormick Theological Seminary on DePaul University’s campus—feels like being inside Cambridge Union, the site of the actual debate. Even more profoundly, the walls are adorned with portraits of almost entirely white men (DePaul University Presidents?). This is a play that feels right at home in academia.
This was evident in the extremely extensive dramaturgy surrounding this production—a jam-packed program with pages of information about the original debate, Baldwin, Buckley, the Civil Rights movement, British Parliamentary-style debate, and so on. The entrance to the space is filled with large posters with even more historical and cultural context. Interactive elements are present as well, encouraging the audience to engage in debates of their own. Dramaturgs Maren Robinson (a Timeline Company Member) and Ashely DeMay, Katherine Schuert, and Omari Sloan (DePaul students) should all be commended for their very thorough and thoughtful work.
I would love for this dramaturgy to carry through into the post-show discussion, which McElroen himself leads, asking for viewers to volunteer thoughts about what this play brought up for them, which mostly devolved into sharing feelings of grief and dread about our country (which may be useful in its own way). In the context of this very intellectual piece though, I think a more structured discussion led by the dramaturgs, with very specific questions to help the audience think even more deeply about what they’ve just seen would lead to some really powerful conversations.
Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley is an incredibly simple play, but incredibly poignant in this moment in history. Precisely 60 years after the real debate, watching it now brought to life by these brilliant actors will galvanize your brain. I’d encourage you to give this one a try and approach it with a curious mind.
photos by Brett Beiner Photography
Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley
TimeLine Theatre Company
in partnership with the American Vicarious and The Theatre School at DePaul University
Cortelyou Commons, 2324 N. Fremont St. on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus
90 minutes, no intermission
ends on March 2, 2025
for tickets, call 773/281.8463 x6 or visit TimeLine Theatre
for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago
