Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley

Arnell Powell (James Baldwin)

Arnell Powell is a graduate of the distinguished NYU MFA program. His prolific career covers stage, screen, video games and audio books, including winning the prestigious Audie award in 2022 for his interpretation of W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Gift of Black Folk. On stage he has been seen opposite Savion Glover in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk and at South Coast Rep in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean.  On television Arnell is recognized from his work on popular series including Winning Time, Stranger Things, 911: Lone Star, and Chicago Med.  Arnell’s feature film roles include Hidden Figures, Lucy in the Sky and The Honeymooners.

Eric T. Miller (William F. Buckley Jr.)

Theatre credits include:
Mope(Ensemble Studio Theatre), rogerandtom (HERE), Sweet Storm (LAByrinth),(A) Loft Modulation (the american vicarious), Awake and Sing! and Ripcord (Huntington Theatre), Wink (Terra Nova), Luft Gangster (Sheen Center), Safe Home (Royal Family Productions), Betrayed (Culture Project)as well as work at the Syracuse Stage, Bard Summerscape, New York Stage and Film, Rattlestick, PS122, Workshop, and the Flea.
Film and Television credits include:
Mare of Easttown, Separation, Jules, FBI: Most Wanted, Halston, The Good Fight, Blue Bloods, Chicago PD, Blacklist, Person of Interest, Elementary, The Unusuals, Kings, Law & Order, Shame, ReachingHome, The Waiting Room, Home, Tom’s Dilemma, Ad Firm, Redemption in Cherry Springs, Josie & Jack, and the Oscar-nominated film Nyad.

Website: erictroymiller.com

Christopher Wareham (Haycock)

Christopher Wareham is delighted to return as David Heycock for Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley. His other theatre credits include Twelfth Night (Sebastian) and Our American Queen (John Milton Hay). He has helped to referee the american vicarious’ London production of Fight for America! Christopher is also the co-creator and Game master for fantasy podcast Fumbling for Lines, currently recording their second season.

Tom Kiteley (Burford)

Tom Kitely graduated from The Guildford School of Acting in 2022. Earning the Carleton Hobbs bursary Award in his final year. Credits Include: Theatre: First Date (Birmingham Old Joint Stock, 2024), Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley (Multiple Venues 2023, 2024), Café (Musical Workshop, 2025). Film: Wicked: Part One (2024) Radio: Splinter Cell: Firewall (BBC Sounds), Charles Paris: So Much Blood, The Seagull,  Death and the Penguin, Microserfs, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, The Spanish Tragedy, 50 Berkley Square (BBC Radio 4), Medici: Bankers, Gangsters, Popes (BBC Radio Cymru) Audio: Bernice Summerfield: The Dalek Eternity 2, Third Doctor Adventures: Operation vengeance, Zygon Century: The Miracle of Pendour Cove, V: UK (Big Finish). Audiobook: The Resurrectionist (A. Rae Dunlap), Who Will Remember (C.S Harris), The Captive (Kit Burgoyne), The Things Gods Break (Hades, Abigail Owen). Tom is delighted to return to Debate, a piece he deeply believes in.

Christopher McElroen (Adapter and Director)

Christopher McElroen is the Founding Artistic Director of the american vicarious. Previously, he co-founded the Classical Theatre of Harlem, where from 1999 to 2009, he oversaw 41 productions yielding 18 AUDELCO Awards, six OBIE Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.

Christopher’s most recent project, Fight for America!, premiered in London in June 2025 and was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition, CNN, and The Washington Post. An interactive performance installation, it challenges participants to confront the gamification of American politics.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (2022) and Static Apnea (2020) were both listed as “Highbrow and Brilliant” in New York magazine’s Approval Matrix, and BroadwayWorld said “the american vicarious is on my list of must-see theatre companies.” In collaboration with six-time Grammy Award nominee Gerald Clayton, McElroen developed and directed Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation, which was presented at Harlem Stage in June 2022.

McElroen received a 2013 Helen Hayes Award for his direction of the world premiere stage adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s iconic novel Invisible Man. He had the honor of directing 51st (dream) State, the final work of poet, musician, and activist Sekou Sundiata, which premiered at BAM’s Next Wave Festival. Alongside visual artist Paul Chan, actor Wendell Pierce, and Creative Time, he co-produced and directed Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, a year-long community development through the arts initiative in post-Katrina New Orleans. The archives from the production were acquired into the permanent collection of MoMA.

Website: www.ChristopherMcElroen.com

About the american vicarious

Founded in 2018, the american vicarious (TAV) is a not-for-profit arts organization committed to creating boundary-crossing works that reflect on America’s ideals and realities. Through innovative projects, TAV examines the timeless and universal forces that unite and divide Americans, shaping the nation’s identity.

TAV’s notable productions include Fight for America! (2025 – present), Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (2020-present), a live restaging of the historic 1965 debate that has toured the U.S. and UK, sparking vital conversations on race and democracy. Other acclaimed works include Static Apnea (2020), a New York Times Critics’ Pick exploring pandemic-era collective anxiety; Negative Liberty / Positive Liberty (2021), a bold dissection of the events of January 6th; and Far From the Nile, which won Best Non-Fiction Film at the 2022 Cairo International Film Festival.

From performance installations to interdisciplinary theatre and documentary film, TAV’s work invites audiences to engage deeply with America’s complex history and evolving identity. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Christopher McElroen and Producing Director Erica Laird, TAV has earned widespread critical acclaim and established itself as a must-see arts organization.