Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays before 1950

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) Zora Neale Hurston during her years at Howard University. (Courtesy of Sheen Educational Foundation ) Zora Neale Hurston, possibly taken during the late 1930s. (Courtesy Moorland-Spingarn, Howard University ) Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me. t AT AN EARLY AGE, Zora Neale Hurston's mother told her to "jump at de sun," and Hurston spent her life doing just that. She attended Howard University from 1919 to 1924, where she developed her talents as a writer. In 1928, she became the first black to graduate from Barnard College in New York City, where she received a baccalaureate degree in anthropology. Following her college years, Hurston gradually became the most prolific and widely published black female writer of her era. Between 1920 and 1950 she wrote four novels, two books of folklore, her autobiography, over fifty short stories and essays, and close to twenty plays and musical revues. She was a recipient of a Rosenwald and two Guggenheim Fellowships. Hailed as the most important collector of Afro-American folklore, Hurston's body of works about ordinary people were inspired by her experiences in Eatonville , Florida, the all-black town in which she was born. Like her contemporary, Shirley Graham, Hurston pursued a professional career in the theatre for many years, but has received little attention for her contributions as playwright and producer. After leaving Florida, at an early age, her first job was with a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe as a maid and wardrobe girl. She traveled with the troupe as far as Baltimore, Maryland. There she enrolled in Morgan Academy (the high school division of Morgan College). While at Morgan, she was persuaded by May Miller to attend Howard so she could study with Alain Locke and become involved in theatre and writing. In 1925, Hurston's Color Struck (possibly her first play) placed second in the Opportunity awards for best plays, while another, Spears, received honorable mention. In 1927 Ebony and Topaz published The First One, a play based on the biblical character Noah and his family. Between 1930 and 1935, Hurston became preoccupied with making a name for herself in the theatre. She wrote over twelve plays during this period . In 1930, she collaborated with Langston Hughes on a three-act comedy, Mule Bone. Hurston and Hughes's friendship was destroyed during this time, and as a result the play was never produced and only the third act has ever been published. Hurston's efforts were then spent trying to produce musical revues. Her first big opportunity to have her work seen was with the September 1931 Broadway musical, Fast and Furious, a revue in two acts and thirty-seven scenes. Hurston was one of nine writers for the show, which also included Tim Moore and Jackie "Moms" Mabley. Hurston made her Broadway debut as an actress with "Moms" Mabley as a cheerleader during this revue. Unfortunately, the show was panned by the 78 / ZORA NEALE HURSTON New York critics. Hurston's next theatrical venture was with her own revue , Jungle Scandals, which also proved to be a disappointment. Hurston's The Great Day (1931)-also revised and retitled From Sun to Sun and later called Singing Steel-was considered a big success, since it brought her name to the attention of theatre-going audiences, but it generated very little income. Centered around a day in the life of a railroad work camp, the musical revue consisted of Bahamian dances, conjure ceremonies , club scenes, work songs, and children's games. Hurston became obsessed during the next three years with producing The Great Day. With this authentic work of Negro life and music, she felt that she would be able to build a Negro Theatre. The revue had several performances in New York, Florida, and other cities around the country, but by 1934 Hurston realized the difficulty in trying to eke out a living in the theatre as a black playwright and producer. While the black community received Hurston as a literary author, there was a reluctance to support her theatrical endeavors . Rejections by Bethune-Cookman College and Fisk University of her applications to head their theatre programs proved to be a disappointment for Hurston. Financially desperate, she resumed fiction writing after a nearly six-year hiatus. Her return...