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Alice Childress

ALICE CHILDRESS

  (1916 - 1994)
Nationality:    African American
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Samuel French Inc  

Alice Childress, born Alice Herndon in Charleston, SC. (October 12, 1912  August 14, 1994) was an American playwright, actor, and author.

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below is a list of Alice Childress's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         African Garden, The         Florence         Gold Through the Trees         Gullah         Hell's Alley         Just A Little Simple         Let's Hear It For the Queen         Man Bearing A Pitcher, A         Mojo         Moms: A Praise Play For A Black Comedienne         Sea Island Song         String         Trouble In Mind         Wedding Band         When the Rattlesnake Sounds         Wine In the Wilderness         World On A Hill, The         Young Martin Luther King

African Garden, The

Synopsis:
A black guy searches for his African heritage

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Drama with music

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Florence

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
American Negro Theatre, New York    1949

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Masses and Mainstream, Vol III (October), NYP, 1950   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gold Through the Trees

Synopsis:
chronicles the black protest movement against civil disobedience from south Africa to America and back to South Africa.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Club Baron Theatre, New York    1952

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Music revue

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gullah

Synopsis:
based on Childress' research of the subject title

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Amherst, Massachusetts    Spring 1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hell's Alley

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written by Alice and Alvin Childress

1st Produced:
-    1938

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Just A Little Simple

Synopsis:
about an ordinary Harlem dweller, Jess B simple, who has extraordinary insight about life.

Notes:
Based on the book of short stories: "Simple Speaks His Mind" by Langston Hughes

1st Produced:
Club Baron Theatre, New York    Sep 1950

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length musical revue

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Let's Hear It For the Queen

Synopsis:
theme borrowed from a Mother Goose story.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Coward-McCann, New York, 1976   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Childrens Youth audience, one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Man Bearing A Pitcher, A

Synopsis:
A fictional family holds Christ's last supper in his home to save Christ from being crucified.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1955

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mojo

Synopsis:
Paying a surprise visit to her former husband, Irene, aware that she is ill with cancer, reveals that she must shortly go back into the hospital but wanted to see Teddy just once more first. From their random conversation it is evident that a warm bond still exists between the two. they talk of the hard times they once had to endure, of how Irene set up Teddy in the numbers business, of the white girl he has become involved with and, finally, Irene confesses that she bore Teddy's child, a daughter, after their divorce-and gave the child up to another couple so that it might have a better chance in life. Sometimes brightly humorous, sometimes achingly sad, yet always unstintingly honest, the play illuminates the true character of two very real and vital people, and underscores their need to fathom and comprehend their Blackness, and to find in it a strength and dignity so long denied.

Notes:
Subtitled "a Black Love Story,"

1st Produced:
New Heritage Theatre, New York    Spring 1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1971   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Black Love Story One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Moms: A Praise Play For A Black Comedienne

Synopsis:
Based on the life of the famous comedienne Jackie "Moms" Mabley

Notes:
music And lyrics by Childress And Nathan Woodard

1st Produced:
Hudson Guild Theatre, New York    Feb 1987

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sea Island Song

Synopsis:
about the Gullah-speaking people of the Georgia Sea Islands

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Charleston, S Carolina    1977

Organisations:
South Carolina Arts commission

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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String

Synopsis:
the scene is the annual picnic of the neighborhood block association; and some of the most fastidious ladies are incensed by the presence of "old Joe," a raggedy character who subsists on other's castoffs, and is an embarrassment to all. they are joined by L. V. Craig, a boastful cafe operator who delights in taunting Joe and in flashing his bankroll before the others. In the course of the action Joe furtively retrieves a piece of string dropped by one of the ladies -and at the same time L. V. Craig finds his wallet missing. Suspicion immediately falls on Joe, who is ashamed to tell what he has hidden in his pocket. But, when he finally does, no one will believe him. Ultimately the missing wallet is found, but the truth, once known, is still not easily accepted, nor does it overcome the hurt and anguish which unfounded suspicion can engender.

Notes:
from story by Guy de Maupassant

1st Produced:
St Marks Playhouse, New York    Mar 1969

Organisations:
Negro ensemble Company

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1971   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  1g

Further Reference:
-

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Trouble In Mind

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Greenwich Mews Theatre, New York    1955

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Barlow, Judith e. (ed.), Plays By American Women, 1930-1960" Applause Books, 1998   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy/Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Wedding Band

Synopsis:
in 1918 the tragic love of a black woman and poor white man ends with his convenient death from influenza

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ann Arbor, Michigan    Dec 1966

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, 1974   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
MeloDrama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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When the Rattlesnake Sounds

Synopsis:
depicts harriet Tubman working in a New Jersey hotel to help the cause of abolition.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Coward-McCann, New York, 1975   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Childrens Youth audience, one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wine In the Wilderness

Synopsis:
as described in the Boston Herald Traveler: "the Drama was woven around a young girl, played by abbey Lincoln, befriended by an artist looking for a model of a grass roots woman, ignorant and unattractive, for his triptych. It opens amidst Negro riots that have burned the girl out of her apartment and abbey gets off a few cracks that hit home when the artist and his friends haul out the afro-American bit by crying,'the afro-Americans burnt down my home. they holler 'Whitey' but who did they burn down-me!' there were many poignant moments as the two were magnetically drawn together and pushed apart. abbey's fear of falling in love with the artist, his desire to hold her there only long enough to paint her for his triptych, her disillusionment when she finds out, from Old Timer, one of the neighborhood's characters, that he wants a woman who's ugly and ignorant for his model. What WINe IN the WILDeRNeSS captured was the turmoil the blacks feel, the pretenses they assume-like wearing straight-haired wigs-the loo

Notes:
First produced on educational television in Boston As part of A special experimental series of black Drama

1st Produced:
Black Arts / West    1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1970   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Social Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  voice

Further Reference:

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World On A Hill, The

Synopsis:
set on a Caribbean island about a white woman and her son, who reassess their lives after an encounter with a young black man.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Plays to Remember", Macmillan, New York, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
one act drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Young Martin Luther King

Synopsis:
a tribute to the chief architect of non violence during the civil rights movement.

Notes:
aka the Freedom Drum. Musical score by Nathan Woodard

1st Produced:
Symphony Hall, Newark, NJ    May 1969

Organisations:
Performing Arts Repertory Theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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