The 7:30 PM symposium, presented in conjunction with the Lincoln Center Theater revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, will feature playwright Wilson as well as author John Edgar Wideman, African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and New York Times columnist Bob Herbert.

Held in the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the free symposium "will explore the literary, political and topical changes in the African American experience from 1911, the year in which Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is set, to the present day," according to press notes.

Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) directs the revival of late Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, which began performances March 19 and will officially open at the Belasco Theatre April 16.

The cast of Joe Turner features Tony nominee Roger Robinson (Seven Guitars), Marsha Stephanie Blake (The Crucible), Chad L. Coleman (Two Trains Running), Michael Cummings (Emancipation), Aunjanue Ellis (The Tempest), Danai Gurira (In the Continuum), Andre Holland (Wig Out), Arliss Howard (A Number), Ernie Hudson (The Great White Hope), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (For Colored Girls…) and Amari Rose Leigh ("Law and Order").

Wilson's 1911-set play, according to press notes, "tells the story of Herald Loomis who, after serving seven years hard labor, has journeyed North with his young daughter and arrives at a Pittsburgh boarding house filled with memorable characters who aid Herald Loomis in his search for his inner freedom." For further tickets and information visit LCT. The Belasco Theatre is located at 111 West 44th Street.