In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

576 The Kentucky Anthology George C. Wolfe from The Colored Museum In New York, Frankfort-born George Wolfe was the talk of the town for much of the 1990s as he wrote, produced, and directed some of the most daring and successful shows in years, such as The Colored Museum, Jelly’s Last Jam, Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk, and Angels in America. Then in the spring of 1997 he suffered kidney failure and spent a year on three-times-a-week dialysis. He kept his condition mostly a secret until he received a kidney transplant in March 1998. During the dialysis period he was hopping around like a completely healthy man, not only running New York’s Public Theater but also directing the musical On the Town, the opera Armistad, and Macbeth at the Public with Alec Baldwin. Where did he get all that talent and energy? Possibly from his mother, he told a writer for the New York Times in November 1998, whom he adored and whose motto was “Keep going no matter what.” Wolfe was the third of four children and grew up in Frankfort, where his father worked for the Department of Corrections and his mother was principal of an all-black school that he attended. One summer when he was twelve he went with his mother to New York, she to work on her doctorate in education and he to see the town. He saw Pearl Bailey in Hello Dolly! and a new production of West Side Story, and those experiences changed his life. Then he went to an integrated high school in Frankfort and was traumatized by the size of the place and all those white people, he said. He began to stutter. The next summer his mother went to graduate school in Ohio, and he took a course in the theater program there. Again his life was transformed. He got rid of his stutter and returned to high school in Frankfort and became a campus leader. After high school he went to Pomona College, then taught acting and began writing and directing in the Los Angeles area, and in 1979 he moved to New York. Wolfe enrolled in NewYork University’s program in dramatic writing and musical theater and started writing The Colored Museum, a satire on black stereotypes. It was a hit. He began his takeover of New York. This passage from The Colored Museum is his original take on the gruesome slave traffic. h (Blackness. Cut by drums pounding. Then slides, rapidly flashing before us. Images we’ve all seen before, of African slaves being captured, loaded onto ships, tortured. The images flash, flash, flash. The drums crescendo. Blackout. And then lights reveal MISS PAT, frozen. She is black, pert, and cute. She has a flip to her hair and wears a hot pink mini-skirt stewardess uniform.) 576 George C. Wolfe 577 (She stands in front of a curtain which separates her from an offstage cockpit.) (An electronic bell goes “ding” and MISS PAT comes to life, presenting herself in a friendly but rehearsed manner, smiling and speaking as she has done so many times before.) MISS PAT: Welcome aboard Celebrity Slaveship, departing the Gold Coast and making short stops at Bahia, Port Au Prince, and Havana, before our final destination of Savannah. Hi. I’m Miss Pat and I’ll be serving you here in Cabin A. We will be crossing the Atlantic at an altitude that’s pretty high, so you must wear your shackles at all times. (She removes a shackle from the overhead compartment and demonstrates.) To put on your shackle, take the right hand and close the metal ring around your left hand like so. Repeat the action using your left hand to secure the right. If you have any trouble bonding yourself, I’d be more than glad to assist. Once we reach the desired altitude, the Captain will turn off the “Fasten Your Shackle” sign . . . (She efficiently points out the “FASTEN YOUR SHACKLE” signs on either side of her, which light up.) . . . allowing you a chance to stretch and dance in the aisles a bit. But otherwise, shackles must be worn at all times. (The “Fasten Your Shackles” signs go off.) MISS PAT: Also, we ask that you please refrain from call-and-response singing between cabins as that sort of thing can lead to rebellion. And, of course, no drums are allowed on board. Can you repeat after me...

Share