Do you remember the name Arthur McDuffie?
Maybe you recall Edna Buchanan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald newspaper鈥檚 crime reporter.
Her tenacious journalism helped lead to the revelation of a horrifying truth: More than 44 years ago, the Black insurance salesman and ex-Marine did not, as Miami and Dade County police claimed, become gravely injured when his motorcycle wiped out at the end of a high-speed chase through city streets near 2 a.m. on Dec. 17, 1979. In fact, McDuffie was surrounded by officers who beat him within an inch of his life, fracturing his skull in multiple places, leading to his death on Dec. 21.
The worst of those fractures, assistant Dade County Medical Examiner Ronald Wright would later testify, cracked McDuffie鈥檚 skull almost in half vertically and was the equivalent of what would have happened if the victim had fallen from a four-story building and landed between his eyes 鈥� on concrete.
READ MORE: An in-depth analysis of Miami's 1980 race riots
The story of McDuffie, the acquittal of four officers by an all-white male jury after their trial was moved to Tampa, and riots in Miami that lasted for three days after the verdict was announced the morning of May 17, 1980, are a key component of Nicholas Griffin鈥檚 book The Year of Dangerous Days.
The 2020 nonfiction bestseller and National Book Award finalist paints an intricately detailed portrait of a chaotically violent year, with intertwined threads about the Mariel boatlift, the sharp rise in murders related to Colombian drug trafficking and the attempts of the city鈥檚 first Hispanic mayor Maurice Ferr茅 to establish Miami as a banking gateway to Central and South America.
Now, the McDuffie-Buchanan story is resurfacing in a completely different way.
The London-born Griffin, his Venezuelan-born wife Adriana and their two children moved to Miami 11 years ago so that he could research and then write The Year of Dangerous Days, which was published by Simon and Schuster. The journalist, novelist, screenwriter and nonfiction author had sold the television and screen rights to his book, so when Miami New Drama鈥檚 co-founder and artistic director Michel Hausmann approached Griffin about writing a play based on it, the author said no.
鈥淭hen I found out my agent had carved out the stage rights, so the first thing I did then was say yes,鈥� remembers Griffin. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how to get into it. If you follow one story, you have to go to Bogota, Cali and Miami. Or you have to go to Havana, Washington and Mariel. But if you follow the Edna story, you can stay in the newsroom and riff against those other things.鈥�
Griffin turned to 鈥淓li谩n鈥� playwright and play-writing teacher Rogelio Martinez, whose 2022 play about the protracted battle over returning Eli谩n Gonz谩lez to Cuba was another Miami New Drama world premiere drawn from history, for advice on writing his first-ever play.
But when he turned in his first draft to Hausmann, Griffin says, 鈥渉e said, 鈥楾hank you so much. You鈥檝e given me a screenplay. You are thinking of theater in terms of its limitations. Think of it as emotional truth, release, imagination. Whose story is this? Edna always wanted to try to give the victim a voice 鈥� he has that now.鈥欌��
鈥淗e鈥� being Arthur McDuffie.
Dangerous Days is likely not the play people with first-hand memories of McDuffie鈥檚 murder, the riots that claimed an additional 18 lives (and caused hundreds of injuries as well as $100 million in property damage) or Buchanan鈥檚 stream of vital stories written in the Herald鈥檚 now-demolished landmark building on Biscayne Bay might be expecting.
Though the play is grounded in events that happened long ago, the script has become more imaginatively and audaciously theatrical.
In collaborating with New York-based director-choreographer Jen Wineman, the cast (all South Florida actors except for Caitlin Clouthier, who plays Buchanan), designers and Hausmann, Griffin creatively speculates on everything from the cost to Buchanan of her nonstop coverage of gruesome crimes to what the 5鈥�10鈥�, 147-pound McDuffie might have said about his fate and the officers鈥� acquittal.
Centered in the Herald newsroom, 鈥淒angerous Days鈥� travels to multiple locations through the magic of theater. It contains humor 鈥� often in the exchanges between Buchanan (who famously turned in stories at the last minute so that editors didn鈥檛 have time to 鈥渋mprove鈥� her copy) and her beleaguered editor 鈥淟arry鈥� (played by Stephen Trovillion and based on several editors) 鈥� but Hausmann says those moments don鈥檛 take away from the 鈥済ravity and importance鈥� of the story.
鈥淎rthur McDuffie became a symbol. It鈥檚 powerful to see him as a human being,鈥� says Hausmann. 鈥淚f we are going to unearth the story of Edna and McDuffie, they both need to have a powerful presence and point of view 鈥� ultimately, you have to get into the minds of the characters. Edna was professional, cutthroat, precise, meticulous, nonstop. A dog with a bone who wouldn鈥檛 let go鈥here鈥檚 something profoundly heroic about her.鈥�
Director-choreographer Wineman, who staged Kristoffer Diaz鈥檚 鈥淭he Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity鈥� for Miami New Drama in 2018 and now has 鈥淔ive: A Parody Musical鈥� (a show about Donald Trump and the women in his life) running Off-Broadway, focuses on new work. What interests her are plays involving comedy, magic and politics 鈥� all of which are components of 鈥淒angerous Days.鈥�
鈥淭he way Nick has written this is very magical in its form鈥hen I first read the play in June, I found it very compelling,鈥� says Wineman. 鈥淏ut we needed to keep it moving, make it more theatrical. It needed to be about the characters and the human connections, how the characters evolve or don鈥檛. We鈥檝e been playing with rhythm and pacing, thinking about what information we get and when.鈥�
Wineman and Clouthier both earned master鈥檚 degrees at the Yale School of Drama and have worked together multiple times. The director calls the actor 鈥渁 comedic genius鈥� and hopes that people who know Buchanan won鈥檛 watch Clouthier鈥檚 performance and say, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good impersonation.鈥�
鈥淓dna is a dynamic, incredible, flawed person in the play,鈥� says Wineman.
Clouthier, who describes herself as 鈥渁 closet introvert,鈥� hadn鈥檛 heard of Buchanan before she auditioned 鈥� nor did she know the name and story of Arthur McDuffie. In that, she wasn鈥檛 alone: Made up of people who were very young or not yet born in 1979-80, most of the locally based cast didn鈥檛 know about McDuffie鈥檚 case either.
To take on the role of Buchanan, the actor read the reporter鈥檚 1987 memoir 鈥淭he Corpse Had a Familiar Face.鈥� Though she has never been a journalist nor covered thousands of murders as Buchanan did on the crime beat, Clouthier says the book provided a window into the Pulitzer winner鈥檚 thought process.
鈥淚 resonated with her drive and her joyful disregard for what other people thought she ought to be doing,鈥� says Clouthier, who will conceal her long, curly red hair beneath a blonde wig to play Buchanan.
鈥淕enerally, I鈥檓 a character actress who doesn鈥檛 play a lot of real people. This is a woman who is very well-known and still alive鈥ny woman who has ever had a dream can relate. She lives her dream loudly and a bit recklessly for her emotional well-being.鈥�
Clouthier and Roderick Randle, who portrays McDuffie, are the only two actors who play a single role in 鈥淒angerous Days.鈥� Jovon Jacobs, Caleb Scott, Krystal Millie Valdes, Rene Granado and Trovillion play multiple roles, allowing for a more sweeping telling of the story. Except for Scott鈥檚 role as Marshall Frank, the detective who was captain of Dade County鈥檚 homicide division, the names of characters have been changed, though most are modeled on people who lived the story.
Randle, praised by director Wineman as bringing 鈥渟o much warmth to the character of Arthur 鈥� you fall in love with him the first time you see him,鈥� didn鈥檛 know of McDuffie, Buchanan or the riots when he was cast but has found multiple points of connection in the role.
鈥淲e鈥檙e giving him the voice he never had, telling the story from his perspective. It鈥檚 cathartic to have the victim express his feelings,鈥� Randle says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to keep the awareness of this happening. To feel and see it happen in a different way. It鈥檚 heartbreaking . . . The more we go through the text and the show, I realize he鈥檚 not too far off from who I am, in the way he loved his family, in the music he listened to.鈥�
Jacobs, who appeared with Randle in Miami New Drama鈥檚 2018 production of 鈥淥ne Night in Miami,鈥� plays Bobby, an officer inspired by a cop who was a high school classmate and longtime friend of McDuffie. It is Jacobs who makes the audience 鈥渟ee鈥� and feel the fires burning through Black neighborhoods during the riots. And he鈥檚 also a conduit for McDuffie to have his say.
鈥淚 absolutely think Bobby is summoning Arthur鈥檚 spirit; that鈥檚 exactly the angle we鈥檝e taken with this piece,鈥� says Jacobs. 鈥淲henever he shows up, it鈥檚 because Bobby is thinking about something in reference to him, whether he鈥檚 questioning something about the case or doubting decisions he made. Arthur pretty much acts as his inner voice, which gets spoken through Bobby, his very close friend.鈥�
Krystal Millie Valdes, who was just highlighted in American Theatre Magazine as one of six Miami theater workers to watch, plays the mysterious Anna and other roles in 鈥淒angerous Days.鈥� No spoilers, but we can say that the younger Anna is an aspiring journalist who attaches herself to Buchanan in the newsroom and on assignment.
鈥淚 play music for kids at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, and I have to pass by the place where this happened. Every time I go, I cry,鈥� says Valdes, who was born in Miami, grew up in a Cuban American family and made a decision to remain in her hometown to build her career.
She praises Griffin鈥檚 willingness to rewrite and revise, and the window he provides into other characters: 鈥淏efore, the script was full of monologues. Now, the characters work through trauma with people they otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have access to.鈥�
Born in Spain, Rene Granado also grew up in a Cuban American family in Miami. In 鈥淒angerous Days,鈥� he plays a racist cop called Vivec, one of the officers who beat McDuffie; the operator of the tow yard where McDuffie鈥檚 motorcycle 鈥� mangled by the police to try to make their claim of an accident credible 鈥� was taken, and others.
鈥淭his play is about giving a version of Arthur McDuffie a voice,鈥� says Granado. 鈥淭his is still happening today in Miami and throughout the United States, even though a lot has changed. This did happen. Life moves forward, and we tend to forget鈥�.You have to stay vigilant and hold people accountable.鈥�
Trovillion notes that Wineman is giving the play 鈥渁 鈥楩ront Page鈥� type of energy 鈥� fast and furious鈥� (he references a play and several movies that are among the all-time great examples of comedies about newspapers) and that the humor in it is necessary 鈥渋n a story as dark as this.鈥�
Scott, a playwright as well as an actor, emphasizes that 鈥淒angerous Days鈥� is more than a 鈥渞etelling of horrors of the moment.鈥� Secrets revealed, the psychological toll on Buchanan, McDuffie鈥檚 friend trying to find his way back to humanity 鈥� many threads converge in the play.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of today in this moment. A lot of wounds that haven鈥檛 healed. And a lot of truths that persist,鈥� says Scott.
Hausmann notes that, among its many themes, 鈥淒angerous Days鈥� is about the power of local journalism and calls journalists 鈥渢he last line of defense of our civilization.鈥�
As writers in a vastly altered 21st-century media landscape fight to keep readers informed, Hausmann believes it鈥檚 also critical to remind Miamians of their history.
He adds: 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 remember Eli谩n, and that was 24 years ago. They don鈥檛 remember Arthur McDuffie, and that was 44 years ago. They don鈥檛 remember that the Colony Theatre was segregated until 1964. A lot of Miami history is hidden. It feels like it鈥檚 our responsibility to change that.鈥�
A final note about Arthur McDuffie and memory.
A historical marker stands at 3800 N. Miami Ave., near the spot where McDuffie was savagely beaten on Dec.17, 1979.
With two of his adult children present, the marker was unveiled on Feb. 24, 2024.
WHAT: Dangerous Days by Nicholas Griffin
WHERE: Miami New Drama production at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
WHEN: Performances 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, through April 28
INFO: 305-674-1040 or miaminewdrama.org
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