
Thunder on the Stage
The Dramatic Vision of Richard Wright
Bruce Allen Dick(Author)
University of Illinois Press
Published on 24. March 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-0-252-08779-0 (ISBN)
Description
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Bruce Allen Dick uncovers the theatrical influence on Wright's oeuvre--from his 1930s boxing journalism to his unpublished one-acts on returning Black GIs in WWII to his unproduced pageant honoring Vladimir Lenin.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.
Bold and original, Thunder on the Stage offers a groundbreaking reinterpretation of a major American writer.
Reviews / Votes
"Dick's thorough biographical research unearths the overlooked role theater played in Wright's life and work. . . . Wright scholars will appreciate the fresh angle on the oft-studied writer." --Publishers WeeklyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
8 black & white photographs
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
541 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-252-08779-0 (9780252087790)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Bruce Allen Dick is a professor of English at Appalachian State University. He is the author of A Poet's Truth: Conversations with Latino and Latina Poets and coauthor of American Soccer: History, Culture, Class.
Content
Foreword Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. Thunder on the Stage: The American Years
1 The Ethics of Acting Jim Crow
2 From Minstrelsy to Shakespeare to Authentic Black Theater: Playwrights, Writers, Critics, and Inter-textual Play
3 Distant Thunder: Wright, the Federal Theatre, and Early Attempts at Writing Plays
4 Native Son on Stage
5 Orator, Performer, and Stage Writer Pursuing Social Change
6 Boxing Jim Crow
Part II. The Last Lampoon: Years Abroad
7 Reconstructing Identity: The Influence of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, and Others
8 Acting Bigger Thomas
9 "Daddy Goodness": Richard Wright's Last Lampoon
Conclusion
Notes
Index
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. Thunder on the Stage: The American Years
1 The Ethics of Acting Jim Crow
2 From Minstrelsy to Shakespeare to Authentic Black Theater: Playwrights, Writers, Critics, and Inter-textual Play
3 Distant Thunder: Wright, the Federal Theatre, and Early Attempts at Writing Plays
4 Native Son on Stage
5 Orator, Performer, and Stage Writer Pursuing Social Change
6 Boxing Jim Crow
Part II. The Last Lampoon: Years Abroad
7 Reconstructing Identity: The Influence of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, and Others
8 Acting Bigger Thomas
9 "Daddy Goodness": Richard Wright's Last Lampoon
Conclusion
Notes
Index