Thunder on the stage : the dramatic vision of Richard Wright / Bruce Allen Dick.

Author/creator Dick, Bruce, 1953- author.
Format Book
PublicationUrbana : University of Illinois Press, [2024]
Descriptionxxi, 285 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Subjects
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960.
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960--Criticism and interpretation.
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960--Stage history.
African American authors--Biography.
Authors, American--20th century. --Biography.
American literature--African American authors. --History and criticism.
American literature--20th century. --History and criticism.
Theater--United States. --History. --20th century.

Contents The ethics of acting Jim Crow -- From minstrelsy to Shakespeare to authentic Black theater : playwrights, writers, critics, and intertextual play -- Distant thunder : Wright, the Federal Theatre, and early attempts at writing plays -- Native Son on stage -- Orator, performer, and stage writer pursuing social change -- Boxing Jim Crow -- Reconstructing identity : the influence of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, and others -- Acting Bigger Thomas -- "Daddy Goodness" : Richard Wright's last lampoon.
Abstract "Richard Wright's dramatic imagination guided the creation of his masterpieces Native Son and Black Boy and helped shape Wright's long-overlooked writing for theater and other performative mediums. Drawing on decades of research and interviews with Wright's family and Wright scholars, Bruce Allen Dick uncovers the theatrical influence on Wright's oeuvre--from his 1930s boxing journalism to his unpublished one-acts on returning Black GIs in WWII to his unproduced pageant honoring Vladimir Lenin. Wright maintained rewarding associations with playwrights, writers, and actors such as Langston Hughes, Theodore Ward, Paul Robeson, and Lillian Hellman, and took particular inspiration from French literary figures like Jean-Paul Sartre. Dick's analysis also illuminates Wright's direct involvement with theater and film, including the performative aspects of his travel writings; the Orson Welles-directed Native Son on Broadway; his acting debut in Native Son's first film version; and his play "Daddy Goodness," a satire of religious charlatans like Father Divine, in the 1930s. Bold and original, Thunder on the Stage offers a groundbreaking reinterpretation of a major American writer"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Dick, Bruce, 1953- Thunder on the stage Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2024 9780252055461
Genre/formBiographies.
LCCN 2023037876
ISBN9780252045684 hardcover
ISBN0252045688 hardcover
ISBN9780252087790 paperback
ISBN0252087798 paperback
ISBNelectronic book

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner Ronnie Barnes African American Collection PS3545.R815 Z64 2024 ✔ Available Place Hold