Description
Book SynopsisA collection of seven compelling plays from award-winning Texas writers, spanning turning points in history, intergenerational struggles, and cultural triumphs while exploring the complexity of African American life from a dazzling array of perspectives.
Trade Review"[A]n anthology featuring works by seven African-American playwrights with Texas connections. Acting Up and Getting Down showcases literary artists familiar to patrons of Houston's Ensemble Theatre, which has long supported African-American playwrights. Editors Sandra Mayo and Elvin Holt, professors at Texas State University, selected plays representing a broad range of themes, from racial violence to homosexuality to the legacy of the blues. Included are Celeste Bedford Walker's Camp Logan, Elizabeth Brown-Guillory's When the Ancestors Call, Thomas Meloncon's Johnny B. Goode, Eugene Lee's Killingsworth, George Hawkins's Br'er Rabbit and Sterling Houston's Driving Wheel. - Houston Chronicle
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Definition of Black Theatre
- Camp Logan (Celeste Bedford Walker)
- Johnny B. Goode (Thomas Meloncon)
- Killingsworth (Eugene Lee)
- Driving Wheel (Sterling Houston)
- Br’er Rabbit (Adapted by George Hawkins)
- When the Ancestors Call (Elizabeth Brown-Guillory)
- Ancestors (Ted Shine)
- Appendix A. Chronology
- Appendix B. Playwrights’ Canon
- Publications That Include Plays by Black Texas Playwrights
- Editor Biographies
