Semester Enrichment Reflection : Sfsu 's Sofa Sin Casa Essay

explained what it was like to be African American in a certain time and place.”

Ellison illustrates the social injustices the black community endures through the characterization of the audience in the theater and their attitudes towards the protagonist in order to display the inexcusable treatment African Americans “accept” in their daily lives. Ellison’s use of diction depicts the white structure through words conveying the message of a higher power. The protagonist sees “(...) the white beam filtered from the projection room above the balcony,” which gives the illusion that the white power structure controls the bingo wheel (252). Consequently, as he feels that he is on the stage by himself with no perception of reality, he feels a sensation of alienation and isolation that “felt right” in his nature. As the protagonist steps on the stage, the audience responds to his presence by talking down to him which includes being called “boy” by the man with the microphone. Although he grins at the “man’s jive talk,” he feels

life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

George C. Wolfe’s satirical play, The Colored Museum, elicits emotion from those who read its powerful lines and make its sentiments spring to life on stage. The play is Wolfe’s indelicate way of handling sensitive subjects related to the African American community. The play carries just enough humor to keep its audience captivated and just enough scalding stereotype to keep its audience from growing bored. The satire and parody presented in The Colored Museum depicts the harsh truth about the lives of African Americans.

The origin of this novel stems from a time with great attitude changes within the African-American way of life. Tensions between gender specifically had begun to emerge, women, who were thought of as subservient, belonging to the house as well as to their husbands. During the timeframe of this story, women had been beginning to emerge with dignity, grace, and authority. The play takes place in Pittsburgh, during the 1950’s when the gap between genders had been shrinking, as women had been introduced further into society as more than just mothers. To most, this diminishing gap, to most would be a seamless concept, however, to the characters of this play would be a deciding factor for many conflicting scenes. The main characters of this play

This can be show as the “14 percent of New York City’s inhabitants” (93) being African American or a slave being “present in one in five of the city’s white households” (94). Miranda needs to credit or create an addition to the play of expressing black lives in America during that time.

When you live in the suburbs of Atlanta, it was easy to forget about whites. Whites were like those pigeons: real and existing, but rarely seen or thought about…everyone had seen white girls and their mother coo-coing over dresses; everyone had gone to downtown library and seen white businessmen swish by importantly, wrists flexed in front of them to check the time as though they would change from Clark Kent into Superman…those images were a fleeing as cards shuffled in a deck, where as the ten white girls behind us were real and memorable (179).

Living Out by Lisa Loomer is a play that tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers who want better lives for their children. The play explores many similarities and differences between them. Through the main character Ana, we understand what it’s like to leave a child in another country and to come to come to the United States. We also get what the potential cost is like to sacrifice your own child in order to care for someone else's. Through the lawyer; Nancy, we understand the pressure on women today. How they try to do everything perfectly and sometimes having to put work before their family. The play also looks at the

The playwright, 40-year-old Young Jean Lee, is currently one of the most acclaimed writers in America according to New York Times. Her work revels in subverting generalizations. With Straight White Men, Lee was contemplating and investigating the issue: What do you do with privilege— and do we abuse it and take it for granted? Lee, who is Korean-American, aimed to make Straight White Men, a play with four straight white men discussing this issue on stage in front of an audience. For the 21st century audience this play is more relevant today than it would have been a few years ago. It portrays opinions and displays some of the world's most pressing problems and debates that are surrounding us today. Yet, to what extent has this impacted upon her work? Using only 3 brothers and their father as the driving force behind the production, Lee’s intriguing play, performed by La Boite Theatre in association with State Theatre Company South Australia, goes a long way past cheap satire. It turns into an

August Wilson’s plays relate directly to his African heritage, and were and are a part of his success. His expression of the struggles of the blacks

the play are ―rich symbol[s]‖ that convey the barriers of a ―racist society‖ (Kenny par. 18). The

Though there was a heightened sense of tension over civil rights in the late 1950s when A Raisin in the Sun was written, racial inequality is still a problem today. It affects minorities of every age and dynamic, in more ways than one. Though nowadays it may go unnoticed, race in every aspect alters the way African-Americans think, behave, and react as human beings. This is shown in many ways in the play as we watch the characters interact. We see big ideas, failures, and family values through the eyes of a disadvantaged group during an unfortunate time in history. As Martin Luther King said, Blacks are “...harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what

The production spearheaded with a solemn poem by Langston Hughes entitled "Harlem." Preparing for an emotionally empowering theater piece, the poem quieted the audience and placed a serious blanket over us. While appropriate for me, I found it extremely coincidental that the poem's title, ties in directly with James Baldwin and his extensive writings on the 1943 Harlem race riots. With the lights off and just a solitary voice reciting the poem, it gave us, the audience, an immediate notion of play's melancholy style.

Opportunity and inequality have been portrayed in America since It’s existence. In this great American play written by Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, Opportunity for the Younger family is being told without the death of a relative or family member, money will always be a complication when reaching for higher possibilities. As, said in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” But if all men are created equal, why is it that inequality between blacks and whites is still such a big problem when the younger family are given the opportunity to move into a predominantly white neighborhood? In this play, the set is took place in Chicago’s Southside, throughout World War II. Our main characters include: Ruth (the wife), Walter Lee (the husband), Travis (the son), Beneatha (the sister in law), and Lena (the head of the household). Each of the character’s personality show great difference between each other. In this small household, a family of five strives for reaching greater opportunities, human rights, and equal freedom.

When looking at the origins of African-American Dramas specifically in Mulatto, Native Son, A Raisin in the Sun, Funnyhouse of a Negro, Great Goodness of Life, and Dutchman, the emotions of all these characters created the sense that everyone in this time were still searching for their identity. Each character in the plays had to overcome difficulties relating to their skin color, thus causing either confusion or confidence in their search for what defines them as their self. It created internal conflicts and they often blamed society for specific expectations and stereotypes. How the characters decided to express their feelings in emotions demonstrates a sense of realism and how they viewed themselves. In each play, we are able to see how the characters deal with the searching of their identity through various emotions and internal conflicts through their life choices.