Plays of Black Americans: The. This item is unavailable.Plays of Black Americans: The

A collection of plays reflecting the Black experience in America

Grade 6-9?Originally published in 1987, this is a revision of a collection of 11 plays about historical events and notable African Americans. Two new plays have been added: Freedom Train, a dramatization of a white family that harbors fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad, and Langston Hughes: Poet of the People. Other selections revolve around George Washington Carver, Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Henry, Abraham Lincoln, and the abolitionist movement. In addition, there are two choral readings celebrating the achievements of Harriet Tubman and Crispus Attucks. Most of the theater pieces do not require elaborate sets or costumes, and the performance times average 30 minutes. Most of the major roles are for boys. Even so, this book offers a creative way to highlight the lives of individuals who played pivotal roles in the black American experience.?Jeanette Lambert, Nashville Metropolitan Schools, TN
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 7^-12. Two plays, Freedom Train and Langston Hughes: Poet of the People, have been added to this new edition of a book first published in 1987. The focus is on the history of African Americans, with special attention paid to heroes like George Washington Carver, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Martin Luther King Jr. Both Harriet Tubman and Crispus Attucks are choral readings, and in The Abolition Flyer, a storyteller narrates the drama. Unfortunately, the weakest, most stilted of the 11 dramas, Freedom Train, introduces the collection. Since it is one of the two new plays, libraries with the original edition may not want the latest in spite of the strength of the second new play, Langston Hughes. Those that missed the first edition should consider themselves fortunate to gain a second chance. Frances Bradburn