Ishmael Reed: The PlaysThe award-winning plays of one of the most celebrated and innovative American writers of our time. Ishmael Reed’s career as one of our great playwrights has long been eclipsed by his other work. Here published for the first time, Reed’s plays follow the ancient tradition of using the theater as a forum in which the official versions of our history can be critiqued. Dealing with subjects that mainstream theatergoers might find disturbing—homelessness, the arbitrary entrapment of a black politician, the excesses of the radical feminist movement, the use of black conservatives to promote right-wing agendas, the exploitation of blacks and Africans as unsuspecting guinea pigs by the pharmaceutical industry, and the hypocrisy of the Christian church—Reed’s plays are a pungent antidote to the watered-down world of contemporary pop culture, where, Reed argues, minority voices remain as marginalized and stigmatized as they were a hundred years ago. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 42
Page 33
... (Pause. rudolph sings “I Can't Figure Women Out.”) They told us that we were macho brutes That we were insensitive, And didn't know how to cry They told us that we were truculent And they were tired of our telling lies They criticized ...
... (Pause. rudolph sings “I Can't Figure Women Out.”) They told us that we were macho brutes That we were insensitive, And didn't know how to cry They told us that we were truculent And they were tired of our telling lies They criticized ...
Page 45
... (Pause) glad you see it my way. good. (Pause) Nice doing business with you. (Pause) Well, Ciao to you, too. (Hangs up. Phone rings again.) People magazine? I told you to quit bothering me. (Phone rings again.) Tell David Rockefeller that ...
... (Pause) glad you see it my way. good. (Pause) Nice doing business with you. (Pause) Well, Ciao to you, too. (Hangs up. Phone rings again.) People magazine? I told you to quit bothering me. (Phone rings again.) Tell David Rockefeller that ...
Page 48
... (Pauses, embarrassed) I'm being humiliated. rudolph: Did you hear him girls? he says that I should honor (rudolph laughs.) a contract (Laugh) between a rabbit and (Laughs) a rat. (model and manicurist break up with laughter.) have you ...
... (Pauses, embarrassed) I'm being humiliated. rudolph: Did you hear him girls? he says that I should honor (rudolph laughs.) a contract (Laugh) between a rabbit and (Laughs) a rat. (model and manicurist break up with laughter.) have you ...
Page 51
... (Pause) Well, mother. What do you think? mother hubbard: It's wonderful. When we enter the capitol next week, my first official duty will be to reward you for your work with the hubbardites. you're my right hand, margo. What would I do ...
... (Pause) Well, mother. What do you think? mother hubbard: It's wonderful. When we enter the capitol next week, my first official duty will be to reward you for your work with the hubbardites. you're my right hand, margo. What would I do ...
Page 58
... (Pause) mother, the camp directors are beginning to complain about the overcrowding. maybe we should send some of the overflow to camps in Wyoming. mother hubbard: good idea, yvonne. They can play cowboys and Indians. (They laugh ...
... (Pause) mother, the camp directors are beginning to complain about the overcrowding. maybe we should send some of the overflow to camps in Wyoming. mother hubbard: good idea, yvonne. They can play cowboys and Indians. (They laugh ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ACT II SCENE African Americans ain’t anthony hall armstrong attorney bebopper begins black agent bobbie rat bump can’t chairperson crack crackpot didn’t dressed drug Ed Bullins enters eva starr exits glare gloria greenbelt hands he’s head hear hoover jackson jake jocko john friday john mcknutley juanita kids king rabbit koko krock krud laugh look Louis Louis Armstrong mabel mamie manicurist margo marse martin mayor michael chen miguel Algarín mildred mother hubbard never newscaster Nuyorican Poets Café oakland offstage ofthe olympia one’s Pause play pope President reverend rudolph Santeria Savage Wilds sheena sits Sound Street talk tell There’s They’re thing Tough Love Institute trying Uncle Sanford wadsworth walk wamu Warhaus wears What’s white agent wife wingate woman women Wyums yeah you’re yvonne