He was the "Red Diaper Baby" of staunch communist parents; now he's playing a historical figure all-but-identified with the American flag. After acclaim on the West Coast, monologist Josh Kornbluth will bring his Ben Franklin: Unplugged, to NY's P.S. 122, Jan. 7-24.
Kornbluth came to New York attention with his autobiographical Red Diaper Baby, which told of his life as the child of Eugene V. Debs and Emma Goldman fanatics. With Franklin, Kornbluth muses about the relationship of the Twenty-Dollar Man to his son, and what made Franklin's son turn against his father and side with the British.
Kornbluth's other pieces include Haiku Tunnel (at NY's Watermark Theatre in 1995) and The Mathematics of Change with John Bellucci at PS 122. Kornbluth has also taken part in several of San Francisco's Solo Mio Festivals.
For tickets and information on Ben Franklin: Unplugged at P.S. 122, call (212) 477-5288.
-- By Sean McGrath and David Lefkowitz