A courtside seat to Syracuse history from the writer of Possessing Harriet.
April 7 - 25, 2027
April 7 - 25, 2027
WORLD PREMIERE
1954. Syracuse, New York. A 24-second clock is ticking—and basketball will never be the same. As the scrappy Syracuse Nationals race toward a championship, the team's two Black players—a trailblazing veteran and a rookie with everything to prove—fight for far more than victory. On the hardwood and behind the scenes, they navigate race, loyalty, ambition, and the price of changing the game.
Inspired by the true story of “The Nats” and their historic championship season, Syracuse Stage Resident Playwright Kyle Bass’ The Black Nationals is an inventive, funny, hard-charging drama about the athletes who helped reshape basketball—and the Central New York history they made at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement.
“Bass’ plays tell the stories of real-life African-Americans set against the backdrop of some of our most turbulent times.”
– Utica Observer-Dispatch
CREDITS:
By Kyle Bass
Directed by Gilbert McCauley
Playwriting Workshop
Time: April 17, 2027, 10 a.m. - 11:40 a.m.
Location: Syracuse Stage 820 E Genesee St.
Part of the Syracuse Symposium series.
In the theater, before the play begins, the house lights go down and come back up, as though the audience has entered a dream. For the playwright, writing is its own kind of dream, only longer and intermittent. In this workshop seminar, Syracuse Stage Resident Playwright Kyle Bass discusses the nature of his creative process and leads a brief workshop on writing page one of a dream called a play.
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