Strange Fruit

by Stephens, Judith L.

• ISBN13: 9780253211637
• ISBN10: 0253211638
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

This anthology is the first to address the impact of lynching on U.S. theatre and culture. By focusing on women's unique view of lynching, this collection of plays reveals a social history of interracial cooperation between black and white women and an artistic tradition that continues to evolve through the work of African American women artists. This collection includes examples of both one-act and full-length dramas written over a time span of approximately eighty years (1916-1994). Production styles represented range from the early realism of Angelina Weld Grimke'sRachel(1916) to the folk drama influences of Georgia Douglas Johnson'sSunday Morning in the South(1925), to the experimental techniques of bifurcated characters and multiple narratives found in Endesha Ida Mae Holland'sMiss Ida B. Wells(1983). Lillian Smith'sStrange Fruit(1945), based on her controversial and best-selling novel, is published here for the first time. Unfamiliar plays by lesser known playwrights such as Corrie Crandall Howell'sThe Forfeit(1925) and recent plays by contemporary playwrights such as Sandra Seaton'sThe Bridge Party(1989) and Michon Boston's Iola'sLetter(1994) demonstrate the development of the genre and continuation of the tradition. Introductory essays by the editors provide a historical and critical context for the plays and link them to the wider art world through the work of visual artists, musicians, and choreographers such as Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Lois Malou Jones, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Katherine Dunham, and Pearl Primus. Current language usage seems inadequate to express the perspective represented by these plays. What should we call a collection of plays by black and white women addressing the cultural legacy of lynching? Since the plays reflect black women's leadership in the drive for interracial cooperation in the anti-lynching movement, perhaps ' womanist/feminist drama' best describes this landmark exploration of women's contribution to the American stage.

Author Biography

Kathy A. Perkins is Associate Professor of Theater at University of Illinois where she heads the Theater Lighting Design Program. She is also the author of Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays before 1950 and co-editor of Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.Judith L. Stephens, Associate Professor of Speech Communication at Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill, serves on the executive Board of the Black Theater Network. She has published articles on women in American theater in African American Review, Theatre Journal, Theatre Annual, Text and Performance Quarterly, and The Journal of American Drama and Theater.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Lynching Dramas and Women: History and Critical Context	p. 3
The Impact of Lynching on the Art of African American Women	p. 15
Rachel (1916)	p. 27
Aftermath (1919)	p. 82
The Forfeit (1925)	p. 94
A Sunday Morning in the South (1925)	p. 103
Safe (c. 1929)	p. 110
Blue-Eyed Black Boy (c. 1930)	p. 116
Climbing Jacob's Ladder (1931)	p. 124
Black Souls (1932)	p. 138
Nails and Thorns (1933)	p. 177
Lawd, Does You Undahstan'? (1936)	p. 191
Voice in the Wilderness (1944)	p. 206
Strange Fruit (1945)	p. 225
Miss Ida B. Wells (1983)	p. 301
The Bridge Party (1989)	p. 320
Iola's Letter (1994)	p. 368
The Writers' League Against Lynching	p. 409
Table of Lynching Dramas	p. 411
Bibliography	p. 417
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