The Richard Wesley Play Anthology (Applause Books) - Softcover

Wesley, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1480394998 ISBN 13: 9781480394995

Publisher: Applause, 2015

Synopsis

This anthology of five full-length plays collectively outlines a cultural history of black America in the post-Civil Rights era, from the late 20th century through the first decades of the 21st. Black Terror looks at the radical politics of the Black Power era; The Sirens, the destabilization of black familial and social life in the early 1970s; The Mighty Gents, the destructiveness of “black macho” in the late 1970s; The Talented Tenth, the midlife crisis and the end of idealism in the black middle class in the early 1980s; and Autumn, the new generational paradigm in black urban politics in the early 21st century.

Each of the plays included in this anthology was born out of the idea of the public thinker, and what Arthur Miller would refer to as the importance of an individual conscience – as well as the belief that each generation must give back, must inform and inspire the generation that follows. No people – and certainly not the African Americans still striving and struggling in the 21st century – can thrive if they fail to adhere to that simple idea.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Wesley (Montclair, NJ) was born in Newark, New Jersey. He has been produced as a playwright, screenwriter, and writer for television. He is a past winner of the Audelco Award, a Drama Desk Award, the NAACP Image Award, and a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. He is currently associate professor in the Department of Dramatic Writing, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Applause
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1480394998
• ISBN 13: 9781480394995
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328