The Evolution of Black Theatre

"The Evolution of Black Theatre"

Throughout the semester our class has read many plays spanning from the mid 1800's to today. During this time we have come across many different styles and pieces which have changed and evolved over time. The different styles of the plays and the different messages authors try to portray shows black theatre's everchanging ideas over time. In this paper I will discuss two different plays, "The purple flower" by Marita Odette Bonner and "Wine in the wilderness" by Alice Childress. Both of these plays address some similar issues but, the style and delivery of these messages is a clear example of black theatre's evolution.

In Bonners "The Purple Flower", the reader can easily distinguish who the two sides are and what they were fighting for. Bonner was known for her passion and in your face style, she was also known for her fictitious stories. In this play she spoke clearly about what she thought was going on in society. This play was written in 1928, this was around the time of the Harlem Renaissance, a time where black writers were expressing themselves and expressing their views on a society that oppressed them. Bonner's plays were no exception. In "The Purple Flower "she speaks strongly about the white devils and how they keep "Us's" from getting what is rightfully theirs. She refers to the devils as using the "Us's" to build those houses and roads and not give them anything in return. The "Us's" just stood back and allowed it to happen. This is much like the society that she lived in, which oppressed black people. African Americans had to do what they needed to survive, even if it meant serving white people, but it never really got them anywhere, because the white people always found a way to keep them down. Her words were fiction, but every aspect of this play struck a cord with black America. It hit home with African Americans who read it because it was true. Things that were wrong in society were getting worse and there needed to be a change. The play called for someone to step up and kill a white devil. This can be interpreted as blacks being able to step up and take back what is ours, even if it had to come to bloodshed. If no one helped our people then the dynamics of our fragile society would just get worse.

The issues that Bonner wrote about were things that were happening throughout our history. She addressed the issues of education; she writes about a young "us" throwing away his books because it didn't help him learn anything that could benefit his people, the white devils wrote the books he read, and so he couldn't learn important things. This could be linked to the education system in the US which favors the white schools and did nothing for the black schools. Bonner's style allowed her to speak about issues, she could speak about them bluntly and honestly, not actually speaking about particular the issue, but the audience knew exactly what she was writing about. This style of writing is very unique and allowed to express her ideas as well as bring awareness to her people.

Alice Childress wrote "The Wine in the Wilderness" in 1969. The late 60's were a time when the civil rights movement had already been in full swing and African Americans were gaining civil rights They were moving up slightly in American social classes and were doing things with