The Colored Museum George C Wolfe Analysis

Theatre is not only presented as a piece of art, but as a tool of social reform to express the feelings of humans and contemporary notions of society. Plays are designed to reflect significant issues of a society, on which they were created. The play Black Diggers by Tom Wright, uses certain devices and forms of symbolism to emphasise not only the historical relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but to link ideas to contemporary issues to provoke ideas of empathy. Wright creates a series of character encounters, to express how an Indigenous racial identity is perceived by society and compare a period of discrimination and infringement of rights to how it is expressed at war during World War 1. This provokes ideas of repentance

Negroes do not like it in any book or play whatsoever, be the book or play ever so sympathetic in its treatment of the basic problems of the race. Even [if] the book or play is written by a Negro, they still [would] not like it” (Henry). In addition, John Wallace believes that the word “nigger” is so offensive that he rewrote the novel without the word “nigger.”

The author uses characterization, symbolism, and theme to demonstrate African American viewpoints during the civil rights movement.

The evolution of musical theater in America can be viewed through many lenses. Through the lens of hindsight, it is easy to reflect on the treatment and portrayal of African-Americans in the contextual fruition of live entertainment in the United States. Dating back to the later half to the nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, ethnic representation in musical theater underwent a gradual change paralleling a shift in societal opinion toward racial equality. Though by today’s standards, its depiction of African-Americans may seem archaic at best, Show Boat changed the way audiences viewed musical theater through its success as the first show to deal with racial issues in the United States.

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

The play is split into eleven vignettes which express the experience of Black people in the 1980s through satire. The play is a comedy in which black stereotypes are exaggerated and presented through the eleven scenes that are presented as exhibits in a museum. The two scenes to be discussed here are the first scene entitled "Git on Board", and the second scene entitled "Cooking with Aunt Ethel."

George Jefferson is a late 90’s television icon, brought to life by Sherman Hemsley. A husband, father, and entrepreneur; managing to be both the antagonist and protagonist of every show he has made an appearance in. He made his stride in television and America by introducing a new portrayal of the black man and the black family, in ways that did not require them to lose their black identity. Jefferson’s importance goes beyond the existence of his fictional depiction. He played a role in branding a social mark on the real world and in Hollywood.

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

Over the past two centuries, America has been plagued by a sharply contrasting vision of what is and what should be. Since the Civil War, and even decades before the conflict began, authors and filmmakers have attempted to highlight problems that exist in society and cast them under a critical spotlight. They criticize and mock society’s faults and urge their respective audiences to enact positive change. Although one may see Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush as two completely separate and different works of high comedy, their similarities are much more visible upon analysis. Using satire as a critical tool, Twain and Chaplin call for social change that fits in line with the ideals of America, such as justice, equality and respect. By using satire in Huckleberry Finn and The Gold Rush, Twain and Chaplin argue that real American life is so far from being idealistic that the gap between the real and the ideal is shocking, unnerving and a cause for immediate reflection on behalf of audiences.

George C. Wolfe's first widely accepted piece, The Colored Museum, uses Brechtian structure to create an atmosphere of question. By using alienation techniques, the play brings the audience to question the stereotypes presented in the play while the subtext of the play is revealed. The play is hypothetically not set in time nor place, but it is dated by the situations each of the characters are put in. The text is delicate in that the production needs to present alienation effects in order to achieve the goal of questioning, or else the audience may simply laugh at the reproduction of racial stereotypes as entertainment and not see past to

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.

[1] Before I start this essay, I feel the need to remind the reader that I find slavery in all its forms to be an oppressive and terrible institution, and I firmly believe that for centuries (including this one) bigotry is one of the most terrible stains on our civilization. The views I intend to express in the following essay are in no way meant to condone the practices of slavery or racism; they are meant only to evaluate and interpret the construction of slavery in film.

In 1983, American playwright August Wilson composed a play using both comedy and tragedy to convey the life experiences of an African-American family in Pittsburgh during the 1950s through the eyes of the play’s protagonist Troy Maxson. Troy Maxson represents many people grandfather or great-grandfather regardless of their race. The reason for this statement is that I noticed that there were people in attendance from various racial and ethnic backgrounds laughing and crying as if they identified with this family. Troy Maxson was a proud, strong and intelligent African-American who had the gift for gab keeps his listeners engage in the conversation. I believe most people have at least one Troy Maxson in their family. Troy felt the pressure

Eugene O’Neill is considered one of the most well-known and significant American playwrights. He is often referred to as the founder of modern drama in the United States”, and was the first American playwright to receive the Nobel Prize in literature (SOURCE). His most influential play and the one that brought him public awareness is The Emperor Jones. It was the first major role for an African American actor on the Broadway stage, which still racially segregated its audience. O’Neill tells the story of Brutus Jones, a murder who escapes to the West Indies. Through deceit and manipulation, Jones anoints himself dictator over the other black natives of the island. O’Neill centers the plot on a black man returning to a primitive state. He even describes Jones as the “typically negroid, yet there is something decidedly distinctive about his face- and underlying strength of will, a hardy, self-reliant confidence in himself that inspires respect” (O’Neill 799). His use of racial slurs seem evidence enough that this play heavily contains a belief of white superiority that is offensive, especially by today’s standards. The Emperor Jones creates a racial stereotyping that only function to reinforce flawed beliefs widely held by the white American audience in the 1920’s.