WordTheatre’s fall series at Chapman University brings America’s finest short story writers to Orange for celebrity and student performances. On Monday, February 5, join us for short story readings by John Edgar Wideman (Philadelphia Fire and Sent for You Yesterday) and internationally acclaimed Hollywood actor Roger Guenveur Smith (Do The Right Thing, American Gangster, Dope).

Performances will take place at 7 p.m. in the Fish Interfaith Center at Chapman University.

This event celebrates Black History Month and will feature internationally acclaimed Hollywood actor Roger Guenveur Smith of such films as Do The Right Thing, American Gangster, and Dope. Smith, along with Chapman actors, will perform readings of John Edgar Wideman’s short stories: Philadelphia Fire and Sent for You Yesterday.

Author John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman was the second African-American Rhodes scholar and studied 18th-century narrative at Oxford. He played basketball for Penn State and wrote Hoop Roots: Basketball, Race, and Love. He writes short stories, novels, and nonfiction. His most recent book is Writing to Save a Life, which investigates the life of Louis Till, a man executed by the Army ten years before Till's son, Emmett, was murdered. His award-winning novel Philadelphia Fire is based on the 1985 bombing of a cult.

Actor Roger Guenveur Smith

Roger Guenveur Smith is an American actor, director, and writer. Smith was born in 1955 in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge. He attended Loyola high school in Los Angeles, Occidental College in Los Angeles and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School, switching from his pursuit of a graduate degree in History. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London, England.