Mark Taper Forum April 12 – May 25 OBIE AWARD-WINNING WRITER AND PERFORMER DANIEL BEATY chronicles Paul Robeson’s remarkable life in an extraordinary theatrical biography. Embodying not only Robeson but also dozens of international personalities who crossed Robeson’s path, Beaty fills the theatre with the dreams, words and songs (American classics like “Ol’ Man River”) of a man who sacrificed everything in the name of liberty. We marvel at Robeson’s triumphs — All-American linebacker and valedictorian while at Rutgers, NFL linebacker while in Columbia Law School, and eventually international star of stage and screen (Showboat; the longest running Othello in Broadway history) — and we gasp at the indignities he suffered as a civil rights and labor rights activist during the McCarthy era. This remarkable play with music provided by a live combo on stage is a powerful, unflinching account of a minister’s son, who became the voice of the everyman around the world, daring to speak up and sing out for what was right.