SummerStage Anywhere Presents: “Rodney King” Film Conversation with Roger Guenveur Smith and Dr. Stephanie Leigh Batiste

This conversation will focus on the 2017 film “Rodney King” directed by Spike Lee, featuring the Bessie-Award winning solo performance shot at SummerStage in Manhattan’s East River Park, and will feature the writer and star of the film Roger Guenvuer Smith and academic, author, and performance artist Dr. Stephanie Leigh Batiste. They will dive into the performance’s early improvisational roots, international theatrical runs, and its screen adaptation, focusing on the continued resonance of Rodney King in a new decade that has been tragically fraught with unresolved issues of state-sanctioned violence. The film gives voice to the man at the center of the brutal police beating that helped fuel the 1992 Los Angeles uprising. The film is currently streaming on Netflix and in advance of the conversation, will be made available to watch for free by special arrangement (Information on how to access the film will available prior to the screening).