The James King Version

A true story from 19th Century America, “The James King Version” traces the arc of an extraordinary double life. Born into white privilege, blond and blue-eyed geologist Clarence King dines with presidents, scales mountains, fights grizzlies, eludes bandits, takes tea with Queen Victoria, trades bon mots with Henry Adams and heroically debunks the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872. Later, in his forties and comfortably ensconced in New York’s social club scene, Clarence yearns for something more: “an ideal woman, natural in the charm of the feminine form; sweetly endowed with a warm temperament and an undimmed soul.” He finds her in Ada, a former slave on her own upward journey through New York’s burgeoning African American community. They marry and have four children over thirteen years. Clarence’s love for Ada and the children is genuine. But as far as Ada knows, Clarence is James Todd, a Pullman porter of African American descent. The choices and rationale that underlay Clarence’s deceit expose not only his imperfections as a human, but also the flaws of a society hobbled by dogmatic notions of racial purity. And while Ada learns the truth from Clarence’s deathbed confession, we, the audience, are left with one last act from Clarence -- a poignant, hopeful vision of a nation that has moved beyond race.