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African American Theatre CAMBRIDGE STUDIES in AMERICAN THEATRE and DRAMA

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African American Theatre CAMBRIDGE STUDIES in AMERICAN THEATRE and DRAMA CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN AMERICAN THEATRE AND DRAMA African American Theatre CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN AMERICAN THEATRE AND DRAMA Series Editor Don Wilmeth, Brown University Advisory Board C. W. E. Bigsby, University of East Anglia Errol Hill, Dartmouth College C. Lee Jenner, independent critic and dramaturge Bruce A. McConachie, College of William and Mary Brenda Murphy, University of Connecticut Laurence Senelick, Tufts University BOOKS IN THE SERIES: Samuel Hay, African American Theatre Amy Green, American Directors Re-Invent the Classics African American Theatre A Historical and Critical Analysis SAMUEL A. HAY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK http: / /www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA http://www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain © Cambridge University Press 1994 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press;. First published 1994 Reprinted 1994,1996,1999 Typeset in Ehrhardt Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. British Library Cataloging in Publication applied for. ISBN 0 521 46585 0 paperback Transferred to digital printing 2003 To the memory of my mother, Mrs. Maebell Glover Hay Contents Acknowledgments page ix African American Drama and Theatre: Outline of Schools, Periods, Classes, Subclasses, and Types xi Introduction i 1. The Black Experience School of Drama 15 2. The Black Arts School of Drama 78 3. Theatre People: Some Splendid Examples 135 4. The Governance of Theatre Organizations 171 5. Development 191 Conclusion 221 Appendixes A Goals for a Theatre Criticism Workshop 225 B New Theatre Organizational Structure 226 C The National Endowment for African American Theatre, Inc. 230 vii viii Contents Notes 237 Select Bibliography 269 Index 275 Acknowledgments I wish to thank the following people for criticizing draft manu- scripts: playwright Ed Bullins, Professor Marvin Carlson of the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, Professor Harry Elam of Stanford University, Professor Errol Hill of Dartmouth College, Professor Thomas Pawley of Lincoln Univer- sity in Missouri, and Professor Arnold Rampersad of Princeton University. Professor Don Wilmeth and the Advisory Board. Garry Gray at the Library of Congress helped considerably by locating documents. The other libraries that provided valuable re- search assistance included the Moorland-Spingarn Research Cen- ter at Howard University, the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library at the University of Pennsylvania, the National Archives, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, and the Hatch-Billops Collection in New York. IX x Acknowledgments Among the hundreds of people to be thanked for their assistance and encouragement are Professor Addell Austin Anderson of Wayne State University, Professor William Branch of Cornell Uni- versity, Professor Winona Fletcher of Indiana University, Professor James V. Hatch of the City University of New York, Bertrum Ber- nard Hay of Riviera Beach, Florida, Professor Floyd W. Hayes III of Purdue University, Professor Herb West of Columbia, Mary- land, Professor Margaret Wilkerson of the University of California, Berkeley, artistic director Samuel Wilson, Jr., of the Baltimore Arena Players, and director Antonio Zamora of the Purdue Uni- versity Black Cultural Center. I am greatly indebted to former associate editor Julie Greenblatt, assistant editor T. Susan Chang, and production editor Camilla Palmer of Cambridge University Press. I owe a special debt to copyeditor Susan Greenberg. I as- sume full responsibility for any shortcomings of this book. African American Drama and Theatre: Outline of Schools, Periods, Classes, Subclasses, and Types I. The Black Experience School of Drama A. Early Musicals Period of Art-Theatre (1898-1923) B. Early Serious Drama Period of Art-Theatre (1923-38) C. Experimentation and Diversification Period of Art-Theatre (1938-68) 1. Inner Life versus Outer Life Class a. Expressionism Subclass b. Protest Realism Subclass c. Satire/Farce Subclass 2. Binding Relationships Class 3. Flow Class 4. Inner Life versus Inner Life Class D. Black Experience Theatre Period (1968-75) 1. New Inner Life versus Outer Life Class 2. New Binding Relationships Class 3. New Flow Class 4. New Inner Life versus Inner Life Class XI xii African American Drama and Theatre E. Bridge Black Experience Theatre (since 1975) 1. Unified Inner Life versus Outer Life Class a. Historical Results Subclass b. Biography Subclass c. Victims Subclass 2. Unified Binding Relationships Class a. New Women Subclass b. New Men Subclass c. New Values Subclass d. African Heritage Subclass 3. Unified Flow Class a. Musical Subclass (1) Social Type (2) Historical Type (3) Personality Type (4) Romantic Type (5) Sacred/Gospel Type b. Serious Subclass (1) Personality Type (2) Social Type II. The Black Arts School of Drama A. DuBois Era of Protest Drama (1913-32) 1. Revelation Class 2. Contribution Class 3. Conscience Class B. Era of Warnings in Protest Drama (1932-51) 1. Communism Class 2. Murder Class 3. Labor Strike Class 4. Hypocrisy Class C. Attack Era of Protest Drama (1951-65) D. Era of Black Revolutionary Drama (1965-72) 1. Umoja (Unity) Class 2. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) Class 3. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) Class 4. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) Class 5. Nia (Purpose) Class a. Criminal Justice Subclass African American Drama and Theatre xiii b. Values Subclass c. Government Subclass d. Education Subclass 6. Kuumba (Creativity) Class 7. Imani (Faith) Class a. Sabotage Subclass b. New Spirituality Subclass E. Black Arts School (since 1972) 1. New Umoja Class 2. New Kujichagulia Class 3. New Ujitna Class 4. New Nia Class 5. New Kuumba Class 6. New Imani Class a. Rituals Subclass b. New Religion Subclass Introduction F it were simply a question of the survival of African Ameri- can theatre, there would be no need for yet another historical I and critical analysis of African American plays, theatre people, and theatrical organizations. Up to today, this theatre has wheezed through more than one hundred seventy years, thanks to generous patching and propping. Given the circumstances, such a long ex- istence is no small achievement. This prompts the question, What can be done to improve prospects for the further long-term health of this repository of African American life and history? To find an- swers requires a thorough examination of African American drama and theatre. Getting a fix on the plays demands, for example, a complete understanding of the general principles governing the works' methods, aims, functions, and characteristics.1 In this checkup, therefore, the first two chapters separate into schools, 2 Introduction periods, and classes most of the plays written by African Ameri- cans between 1898 and 1992. The criteria are based on theories espoused by the philosopher Alain Locke (1886-1954) and the so- ciologist William E. B. DuBois (1868-1963) during the 1920s and the 1930s. The purpose of classification is to set terms and impose limits. Chapter 3 studies African American theatre people. Their condition today looks better than it actually is - thanks to the well- known few actors trained in community theatres during the thirties and the forties. These theatres now are on their deathbeds, how- ever, because there are too few young people willing to brave the uncertainty of the theatre profession and the racial prejudice in the preparation. The third chapter, then, is a pep talk to the young and the tired. They must be made aware that historically the major contributions to African American theatre have come from people whose backs have been spiked to the wall. Their stories might be just the medicine needed to improve even the management of the- atre organizations. This is the purpose of the fourth chapter, which analyzes historical examples of management schemes, pointing out their advantages and disadvantages. The benefits of these strate- gies are reviewed in Chapter 5, which rummages through history to find abundant and fresh remedies. Getting this health examination under way requires looking at the tenets of developments in, and nineteenth-century sources for DuBois's and Locke's respective schools of theatre. DuBois wandered into the theatrical arena in 1911 in order to teach uthe colored people" the meanings of their history and of their rich emotional life. Most importantly, he wanted to use theatre to reveal the Negro to the white world as ua human, feeling thing."2 These were also the objectives of his Suppression of the African Slave Trade (1896) and precedent-setting Philadelphia Negro (1899). He real- ized, however, that to change the race situation in the United States required capturing the mass imagination. Theatre was the most ac- cessible medium for this purpose. DuBois tried his hand at writ- ing, submitting to the American Pageant Association in 1911 his stiff The Star of Ethiopia. The association ignored him, although Introduction 3 not totally for racial reasons. DuBois was happy to appear before a special committee of the U.S. Senate on February 2, 1912. The committee was holding
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