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Louis Rivers

LOUIS RIVERS

  
Nationality:    African American
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Louis Rivers's plays including theatres, agent, synopses, cast sizes, production and published dates

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Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)

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

         Black English         Black Pictures         Bouquet for Lorraine         Case of Peppermint Gum, A         Crabs In the Bucket         Ghosts         Madam Odum         Mr Randolph         Nights Passage into Purple Passion         Pictures for Jimmy Jr         Piece of Land, The         Scabs, The         Seeking         Solomon and Sheba         Spiritual Rock Incident at Christmas Time         Witnesses
Black English

Synopsis:
the time-1974 in New York City. When the main character, a college student who's having trouble passing an English examination, experiences a temporary setback in his ability to make love to the chairman of the English department, he begins to evaluate his life as a black man and attempts to change it

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1974

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:
Domestic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Black Pictures

Synopsis:
Monologues and dialogues portraying different black characters. No setting, the time is the present, and the monologues are classified as follows: Cast: "In the House" 6 M, 9 F; "On the Porch" 2 M, 3 F; "On the Public Bus" 3M, 2 F; "In the Barber Shop" 3M, 2 F; "In the Beauty Salon" 2 M, 3 F; "In the Bar" 3 M, 2 F; "On the Street Corner" 3 M, 2 F; "In the Church" 2 M, 3 F

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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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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Bouquet for Lorraine

Synopsis:
the time is the present, and the place is a small city in Georgia. the play is concerned with the black struggle between classes in their concepts, values, roles, and sexes

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
Morality Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  3 BM, 5 BF

Further Reference:
-

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Case of Peppermint Gum, A

Synopsis:
Set in a small city in Georgia. An ego struggle between a black woman and a white man. She is the maid in a five-and-dime store; he is the manager

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  1 BM, 1 BF, 4 WM, 1 WF

Further Reference:
-

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Crabs In the Bucket

Synopsis:
Struggles of a woman in a Southern city

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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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:
Domestic play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  5 BM, 2 BF,.1 WM

Further Reference:
-

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Ghosts

Synopsis:
. the action takes place in New Orleans in the "dirty" 1 930s, in a run-down brothel, where the girls are a bit too brassy and the house madam, on the wrong side of forty, has a much too young "loverboy."

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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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:
Historical Fantasy One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4 BM, 4 BF, 1 WM, 1 WF

Further Reference:
-

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Madam Odum

Synopsis:
the interactions take place on the campus of a small southern black college in the late 1960s. It is concerned with the resis-tance of a female college professor and musical prima donna, Madam Odum, who is being forced to retire

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Nht, New York     1973

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:
Domestic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4 BM, 5 BF

Further Reference:
-

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Mr Randolph

Synopsis:
Problem of a black man who gets caught up in a struggle for power, and it almost destroys him

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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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:
Domestic Drama Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  6 BM, 8 BF

Further Reference:
-

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Nights Passage into Purple Passion

Synopsis:
the play takes place in 1969 on a southern black college campus and concerns the revolts of students and a faculty committee trying to deal with the situation

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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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:
Domestic Mythic One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  5 BM, 6 BF, dancer, chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Pictures for Jimmy Jr

Synopsis:
Problems of a young, black rural southern couple who recently married and moved to Harlem in the 1 930s to improve their lot. they, however, have a baby, Jimmy Jr., before they are ready, and as a result their situation worsens

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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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:
Domestic play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  9 BM, 6 BF, 1 WM, 1 WF

Further Reference:
-

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Piece of Land, The

Synopsis:
the play takes place on a small farm in South Carolina during 1934. the heroine, who is terminally ill, is determined to help her husband hold on to a piece of land much longer than the present circumstances might allow

Notes:
Music by Benn Carter

1st Produced:
American Theatre Company, New York     1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "An Introduction To Modern One Act Plays" published by National Textbook 1991   

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:
Domestic play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 black females (1 minor role), 5 black males, 1 white male.

Further Reference:
-

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Scabs, The

Synopsis:
the struggle in Harlem in 1934 between white waiters and a group of unemployed black musicians who agree to scab the jobs of the white waiters, who are out on strike

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Published script, HBA,    

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:
Domestic play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  10 BM, 3 BF, 7 WM, musicians

Further Reference:
-

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Seeking

Synopsis:
Problems of a black religious woman struggling to re-unite her family, torn apart by politics, war, and alcoholism

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

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:
Domestic Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4 BM, 7 BF, 1 WM

Further Reference:
-

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Solomon and Sheba

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Ed Taylor

1st Produced:
Harlem Opera Society, Harlem Cultural Council, New York     1973

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:
Jazz Opera

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 BM, 5 BF

Further Reference:
-

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Spiritual Rock Incident at Christmas Time

Synopsis:
the play tests both the faith of those who say they do and don't believe in the divine conception of Jesus. While the play is most meaningful at Christmas time, it is a musical that will have significance at anytime

Notes:
Music by Benn Carter

1st Produced:
-    

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:
Musical Ritual Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  5 BM, 8 BF

Further Reference:
-

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Witnesses

Synopsis:
the time of the play is 1949, and the focus is on the problem of a black college professor who tries to convince other colleagues to remain loyal to a white professor who is being called before a legislative investigating committee to account for his loyalty to his country

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4 BM, 3 BF, 1 WM

Further Reference:
-

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