What Do I Read Next?
Last Updated on July 29, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 177
- Holly Hill’s essay, ‘‘Black Theater into the Mainstream,’’ which appeared in Bruce King’s collection of essays, Contemporary American Theater, examines tensions among blacks in Wilson’s plays.
- After opening on Broadway in 1987, Wilson’s play, Fences, won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award,...
(The entire section contains 177 words.)
Unlock This Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Ma Rainey's Black Bottom study guide. You'll get access to all of the Ma Rainey's Black Bottom content, as well as access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
- Summary
- Themes
- Characters
- Critical Essays
- Analysis
- Teaching Guide
Already a member? Log in here.
- Holly Hill’s essay, ‘‘Black Theater into the Mainstream,’’ which appeared in Bruce King’s collection of essays, Contemporary American Theater, examines tensions among blacks in Wilson’s plays.
- After opening on Broadway in 1987, Wilson’s play, Fences, won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, an American Theater Critics’ Association Award, a Drama Desk Award, and the Outer Critics’ Circle Award. Fences explores the relationships between husband and wife, father and son, two lovers and two friends.
- Wilson’s play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, tells the story of Harold Loomis who, while searching for his wife in Pittsburgh, is haunted by the memory of being illegally enslaved by bounty hunter Joe Thomas in 1917. The play opened at the Yale Repertory Theatre in late 1986 and won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.
- Carla McDonough’s intriguing book, Staging Masculinity: Male Identity in Contemporary American Drama (1997), provides a sociological reading of Wilson’s plays, focusing on the subjects of crime, guns, and work among his urban black male characters.
