The Blacks | The Blacks

At a glance:

Author: Jean Genet
First Published: 1958
Type of Plot: Existential; allegory
Time of Work: The 1950’s
Setting: Europe and Africa
Principal Characters: Edgar-Hélas Ville de Saint-Nazaire, Dieudonné Village, Archibald Absalon Wellington, Samba Graham Diouf, Mademoiselle Étiennette-Vertu-Rose-Secrète Diop, The Queen, The Judge, The Valet, The Missionary, The Governor
Genres: Existential literature, Drama, Allegory
Subjects: 1950’s, African Americans, Discrimination, Africa or Africans, Racism, Blacks, Europe or Europeans, Revolutions, Trials, Oppression
Locales: Africa, Europe

At the beginning of The Blacks, the proscenium curtain is drawn to reveal a backdrop of black velvet curtains and various tiers, the highest of which, in the far rear, comes to be occupied by “the court.” Four black men and four black women dance around a catafalque (an ornamental structure containing a coffin) to a minuet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The members of the court are black but wear white masks so as to represent onstage an extension of the white audience in the theater. To both the court and the audience, Archibald introduces himself, then...

The Blacks | The Blacks

At a glance:

The Play

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