Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance 1920-1940 (African American Life Series) [Paperback]

James Vernon Hatch (Editor), Leo Hamalian (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Like Kathy Perkins's Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays Before 1950 (Indiana Univ., 1989) and Hatch and Hamalian's own The Roots of African American Drama: An Anthology of Early Plays, 1958-1938 (Wayne State Univ., 1991), this is one of several relatively recent works that help make long out-of-print or previously unpublished plays available to contemporary readers. Nine of the 16 plays in Hatch and Hamalian's new collection have not been published before. Playwrights range from the well known (Langston Hughes, George S. Schuyler) to the obscure (Ralf M. Coleman, Andrew M. Burris). Among the best of these plays are Schuyler's The Yellow Peril, Conrad Seiler's Darker Brother, Francis Hall Johnson's folk opera Run Little Chillun, and Shirley Graham's radio drama Track Thirteen. The editors provide a useful introduction, headnotes on each author, and a short bibliography. Of special interest is an appendix containing 20 key articles (written from 1919 to 1928) on black theater. Recommended for all collections interested in drama and/or African American literature.?Louis J. Parascandola, Long Island Univ., Brooklyn Campus
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Lost Plays Of The Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1940 is a compilation of sixteen plays written by Harlem residents over a twenty year period. The works of Langston Hughes, George S. Schuyler, Francis Hall Johnson, Shirley Graham, and others make this a treasured collection. In his introduction, James Hatch sets the plays in an historical context as he describes the challenges presented to artists by the political and social climate of the time. The plays cover the realm of human experience in styles as wide-ranging as poetry, farce, comedy, tragedy, social realism, and romance. Individual introductions to each play provide essential biographical background on the playwrights. The Lost Plays Of The Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1940 is a remarkable contribution to black studies and American theatrical history. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 467 pages
• Publisher: Wayne State Univ Pr (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814325807
• ISBN-13: 978-0814325803
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfied Customer, January 7, 2008

By 

Karolyn Jennings (Detroit, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance 1920-1940 (African American Life Series) (Paperback)

I was interested in the plays written by African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance and this book has been great reading for me during my regular reading hours.