Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley
04 February 2026
Wilton’s Music Hall
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
For a short run this week, The American Vicarious brings Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley to the Wilton’s Music Hall in Tower Hill. The staging runs until Saturday 7th February in a captivating 1 hour production.
February 1965 at Cambridge University, the Cambridge Union hosted a historic debate between James Baldwin, author and outspoken voice for the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley, a prominent American conservative. Under the heading “Is The American Dream at the Expense of the American Negro”, the debate drew a huge crowd, packed into the hall and clamouring for seats outside. To this day, it is a very well known debate that ignited minds and opinions.
Incorporating original footage into the production, the staging brings four contemporary actors to the stage to reinvigorate the debate sixty years later. What is most striking about the debate is how contemporary it feels, despite the black and white footage projected on the back wall. The words and talking points are still often debated today, seemingly not having resolved in either direction, but rather having intensified on both sides of the discussion. Does dominant culture have to change to make up for past oppressions, or do the oppressed need to step up to even the playing field themselves? Have we moved past slavery and colonialism enough to allow those oppressed in the past the same chances as the majority culture?
Despite having happened so long in the past, quotes seem to apply just as strongly today, perhaps even more. From false equivalences to straw-man arguments, this historic debate still stirs opinions and feels pressing and important.
A great staging that is true to its base material while bringing a fresh air to the debate.
