The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States

  IX

  THE STAGE

  In no other field has the Negro with artistic aspirations found the roadso hard as in that of the classic drama. In spite of the far-reachinginfluence of the Negro on American life, it is only within the last twoyears that this distinct racial element has begun to receive seriousattention. If we pass over Othello as professedly a Moor rather than aNegro, we find that the Negro, as he has been presented on the Englishor American stage, is best represented by such a character as Mungo inthe comic opera, "The Padlock," on the boards at Drury Lane in 1768.Mungo is the slave of a West Indian planter; he becomes profane in thesecond act and sings a burlesque song. Here, as elsewhere, there was nodramatic or sympathetic study of the race. Even Uncle Tom was aconventional embodiment of patience and meekness rather than a highlyindividualized character.

  On the legitimate stage the Negro was not wanted. That he could succeed,however, was shown by such a career as that of Ira Aldridge. Thisdistinguished actor, making his way from America to the freer life ofEurope, entered upon the period of his greatest artistic success when,in 1833, at Covent Garden, he played Othello to the Iago of Edmund Kean,the foremost actor of the time. He was universally ranked as a greattragedian. In the years 1852-5 he played in Germany. In 1857 the King ofSweden invited him to visit Stockholm. The King of Prussia bestowed uponhim a first-class medal of the arts and sciences. The Emperor of Austriacomplimented him with an autograph letter; the Czar of Russia gave him adecoration, and various other honors were showered upon him.

  Such is the noblest tradition of the Negro on the stage. In course oftime, however, because of the new blackface minstrelsy that becamepopular soon after the Civil War, all association of the Negro with theclassic drama was effectively erased from the public mind. Near theturn of the century some outlet was found in light musical comedy.Prominent in the transition from minstrelsy to the new form were BobCole and Ernest Hogan; and the representative musical comedy companieshave been those of Cole and Johnson, and Williams and Walker. BertWilliams is to-day generally remarked as one of the two or threeforemost comedians on the American stage. Even musical comedy, however,is not so prominent as it was ten years ago, by reason of thecompetition of vaudeville and moving-pictures; and any representation ofthe Negro on the stage at the present time is likely to be either aburlesque, or, as in such pictures as those of "The Birth of a Nation,"a deliberate and malicious libel on the race.

  In different ones of the Negro colleges, however, and elsewhere, arethere those who have dreamed of a true Negro drama--a drama that shouldget away from the minstrelsy and the burlesque and honestly presentNegro characters face to face with all the problems that test the racein the crucible of American civilization. The representativeinstitutions give frequent amateur productions, not only of classicalplays, but also of sincere attempts at the faithful portrayal of Negrocharacter. In even wider fields, however, is the possibility of thematerial for serious dramatic treatment being tested. In the spring of1914 "Granny Maumee," by Ridgely Torrence, a New York dramatist, wasproduced by the Stage Society of New York. The part of Granny Maumee wastaken by Dorothy Donnelly, one of the most emotional and sincere ofAmerican actresses; two performances were given, and Carl Van Vechten,writing of the occasion in the New York _Press_, said: "It is asimportant an event in our theater as the first play by Synge was to theIrish movement." Another experiment was "Children," by Guy Bolton andTom Carlton, presented by the Washington Square Players in March, 1916,a little play in which a mother shoots her son rather than give him upto a lynching party. In April, 1917, "Granny Maumee," with two othershort plays by Mr. Torrence, "The Rider of Dreams," and "Simon theCyrenian," was again put on the stage in New York, this time with acompany of colored actors, prominent among whom were Opal Cooper andInez Clough. This whole production, advertised as "the first coloreddramatic company to appear on Broadway," was under the patronage of Mrs.Norman Hapgood and the direction of Robert Edmond Jones, and its successwas such as to give hopes of much greater things in the future.

  Three or four other representative efforts within the race itself in thegreat field of the drama must be remarked. One of the most sincere was"The Exile," written by E. C. Williams, and presented at the HowardTheater in Washington, May 29, 1915, a play dealing with an episode inthe life of Lorenzo de Medici. The story used is thoroughly dramatic,and that part of the composition that is in blank verse is of a notabledegree of smoothness. "The Star of Ethiopia," by Dr. DuBois, was apageant, elaborately presented. Originally produced in New York in 1913,it also saw performances in Washington and Philadelphia. The spring of1916 witnessed the beginning of the work of the Edward Sterling WrightPlayers, of New York. This company used the legitimate drama and made afavorable impression, especially by its production of "Othello." Atpresent special interest attaches to the work of the Lafayette Playersin New York, who have already made commendable progress in theproduction of popular plays.

  The field is comparatively new. It is, however, one peculiarly adaptedto the ability of the Negro race, and at least enough has been done sofar to show that both Negro effort in the classic drama and the seriousportrayal of Negro life on the stage are worthy of respectfulconsideration.