An invisible man, live on stage

Can you do a play about an invisible man? About an African-American whom others simply refuse to see? Ralph Ellison, it seems fair to surmise, thought probably not. Not well, anyway. Not something that would do justice to the moment, shortly after the end of World War II, when a mostly impecunious writer, an African-American visitor to Vermont, wrote five words on a piece of paper — "I am an invisible man" — without knowing why or where it might lead him.

Chris Jones

January 12, 2012