The Classical Theater of Harlem, which has given Harlem audiences Hamlet and The Blacks in the past 12 months, has extended its current adaptation of Richard Wright's Native Son by Christopher McElroen, one of the founder of the theatre. The show, wihich began Feb. 1, will now run through March 3, a week past its original closing date. McElroen directs. The troupe won an Obie Award in 2001.

Native Son tells the modern tragedy of Bigger Thomas, a young black man in 1930s Chicago who feels trapped by the racist climate that surrounds him. When, in a moment of panic, he kills a white woman who is the daughter of his employer, is seems his future can hold nothing but jail and death.

The play was famously adapted for the stage in 1942 in a production directed by Orson Welles and starring Canada Lee as Bigger. The show was Welles' last success in the theatre.

Tickets are $15.00. The show will play at The HSA Theater, 645 St. Nicholas Ave. (near 141st Street). Call (212) 539-8828.

—By Robert Simonson