Wines in the Wilderness: Plays by African American Women from the Harlem Renaissance to the Present

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This book brings together 13 plays by black women from the 1990s to the present, including works by Marita Bonner, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eulalie Spence, May Miller, Shirley Graham, Alice Childress, Sonia Sanchez, Sybil Kein, and Elizabeth Brown-Guillory. The plays and dramatists selected are representative of and have made considerable contributions to African American theatre. Although the works of these playwrights span over 60 years, they are closely linked by the theme of women struggling to define their roles in society. The heroines speak out against inter-racial and intra-racial biases, stereotyping, lynch mobs, illiteracy, poverty, promiscuity, self-righteousness, abusive men, rape, and miscegenation. Each play is preceded by a critical introduction that includes biographical information, an assessment of the playwright's contributions to black theatre, and a synopsis and critical analysis of the play. The bibliography that follows the plays provides selected lists of published plays, produced plays, and anthologies. An index completes the work. This collection represents an effort to make avaliable plays written by black women that have not been published or are now out of print. In recovering these plays, scholars will now be able to take a close look at the contributions that black women dramatists have made not only to African-American theatre, but to American theatre in general.

Reviews

For those whose familiarity with black women playwrights is limited to the works of Lorraine Hansberry and Ntozake Shange, this collection of 15 plays written between 1925 and 1985 by eight authors will be a revelation. They express a passionate longing for social justice and for a stable, nurturing relationship between black men and women. Introductions for each author provide biographical information and critical analyses. A useful bibliography of plays and secondary sources is also included. This anthology helps to fill a serious gap in the standard histories of American drama and should be purchased by most black studies and theater collections.-Library Journal
There are several bonuses in this book. Short biographies and lists of achievements are inserted for each playwright at the beginning of their sections. (Some playwrights have more than one play.) Brown-Guillory includes a synopsis and analysis of each play along with a short description of the characters. A selected bibliography and an index enhance the usefulness of these plays. This would be an excellent addition for any public library seeking to expand their drama anthologies section.-WLW Journal
This book contains 13 plays by 9 playwrights, with both biographical notes and synopsis and analysis information for each play. Brown-Guillory (University of Houston), who compiled this volume and is herself the author of a play included in this volume, also wrote Their Place on the Stage (CH, Jun '89), which dealt with the plays of six of the dramatists also included in this second book. At present, she is working on a book about Alice Childress, included in both her previous works cited here. Authors Marita Bonner, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eulalie Spence, May Miller, Shirley Graham, Alice Childress, Sonia Sanchez, Sybil Kein, and Brown-Guillory herself may be both representative and important for their contributions, as Brown-Guillory asserts in the preface, but the absence of Hansberry, Shange, and Kennedy suggests the exclusiveness of this collection. The notes are readable and informative as is the 20-page bibliography of published plays, produced plays, anthologies, and critical sources for further reading. This volume would be useful for enlarging awareness of the artistic contributions made to American theater by African-American women writers.-Choice
Wines in the Wilderness: Plays by African American Women from the Harlem Renaissance to the Present edited and complied by Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, brings together 13 plays by Black women from the 1920s to the present, including works by Marita Bonner, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eulalie Spence, May Miller, Shirley Graham, Alice Childress, Sonia Sanchez, Sybil Kein and the editor. Although the works span more than 60 years, they are closely linked by the theme of women struggling to define their roles in society. Includes a 19-page bibliography.-Feminist Bookstore News
"For those whose familiarity with black women playwrights is limited to the works of Lorraine Hansberry and Ntozake Shange, this collection of 15 plays written between 1925 and 1985 by eight authors will be a revelation. They express a passionate longing for social justice and for a stable, nurturing relationship between black men and women. Introductions for each author provide biographical information and critical analyses. A useful bibliography of plays and secondary sources is also included. This anthology helps to fill a serious gap in the standard histories of American drama and should be purchased by most black studies and theater collections."-Library Journal
"There are several bonuses in this book. Short biographies and lists of achievements are inserted for each playwright at the beginning of their sections. (Some playwrights have more than one play.) Brown-Guillory includes a synopsis and analysis of each play along with a short description of the characters. A selected bibliography and an index enhance the usefulness of these plays. This would be an excellent addition for any public library seeking to expand their drama anthologies section."-WLW Journal
"Wines in the Wilderness: Plays by African American Women from the Harlem Renaissance to the Present edited and complied by Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, brings together 13 plays by Black women from the 1920s to the present, including works by Marita Bonner, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eulalie Spence, May Miller, Shirley Graham, Alice Childress, Sonia Sanchez, Sybil Kein and the editor. Although the works span more than 60 years, they are closely linked by the theme of women struggling to define their roles in society. Includes a 19-page bibliography."-Feminist Bookstore News
"This book contains 13 plays by 9 playwrights, with both biographical notes and synopsis and analysis information for each play. Brown-Guillory (University of Houston), who compiled this volume and is herself the author of a play included in this volume, also wrote Their Place on the Stage (CH, Jun '89), which dealt with the plays of six of the dramatists also included in this second book. At present, she is working on a book about Alice Childress, included in both her previous works cited here. Authors Marita Bonner, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eulalie Spence, May Miller, Shirley Graham, Alice Childress, Sonia Sanchez, Sybil Kein, and Brown-Guillory herself may be both representative and important for their contributions, as Brown-Guillory asserts in the preface, but the absence of Hansberry, Shange, and Kennedy suggests the exclusiveness of this collection. The notes are readable and informative as is the 20-page bibliography of published plays, produced plays, anthologies, and critical sources for further reading. This volume would be useful for enlarging awareness of the artistic contributions made to American theater by African-American women writers."-Choice

Author Bio

ELIZABETH BROWN-GUILLORY is Associate Professor of English at the University of Houston. Both playwright and literary critic, she is the author of two plays, Bayou Relics and Snapshots of Broken Dolls, the latter produced at Lincoln Center in 1986, and the critical book, Their Place on the Stage: Black Women Playwrights in America (Greenwood Press, 1988). She has published a host of articles and book reviews in Phylon, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women, Xavier Review, The Griot, Masterplots, Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, and American Literature. Currently she is working on a critical book on playwright and novelist Alice Childress.