Michael Fosberg has been helping American audiences confront the issues of race and identity head-on through his one-man, autobiographical play Incognito for nearly a decade. On Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, Fosberg brings the show to New York City’s Westbeth Center as part of the Association for Performing Arts Presenters NYC 2011 Conference.
Raised in a Chicago suburb by his biological mother and an adoptive stepfather, at 34 Fosberg began a search for his biological father. When his father revealed in their first phone conversation that he is black, Fosberg quickly discovered the quest for his long-lost father would result not only in the discovery of a new branch of his family tree, but of a new heritage, and idea of self.
That life-changing revelation, and the subsequent connections he made with his father’s family, resulted in the creation of his one-man play, Incognito. The show has been heralded as an “engrossing and deeply moving trip, for both the audience and the performer” by Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune.
Since 2001, the writer-actor-director has performed his thought-provoking and humorous show for captivated audiences, inviting them to question and discuss their thoughts on race and identity.
Incognito has been performed around the country for audiences at hundreds of arts venues, educational institutions, corporations and government agencies, including Northwestern University, The National Training Center for the US Army, the Sundance Institute, NASA, and the Black Academy of Arts & Letters.
Now, Fosberg will introduce his story to Manhattanites this January. As he always does, after the performance, Fosberg will lead the audience in what is sure to be an insightful discussion on human relations, identity and race.
The Westbeth Center is located in Manhattan at 55 Bethune St. (at Washington). The Jan. 9 performance of Incognito begins at 8:00 p.m. The Jan. 11 show starts promptly at 7:00 p.m.
