The Darker Face Of The Earth

Metropolitan Atlanta Theater Awards Nominations Announced

The New Depot Players' production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical has been one of the the most-nominated shows this year, receiving 11 nominations, including one for Best Overall Performance of a Musical. In addition, Jay Tryall has received a nomination for his direction of the show and the production has been nominated for Best Ensemble, Musical. In addition, performers Candice Bates, Courtney Bozaich, Solita Johnson, Patty Maguire, and Kristel Wunderlin have been individually nominated for their performances in the piece.

Among the most highly nominated nonmusical shows is The Essential Theatre's The Darker Face of the Earth , which has received a total of eight nominations including one for Best Ensemble, Play, as well as individual nominations for A. John Doyle, Sabrena Farmer, and Deborah Harris, as well as one for director Betty Hart.

Other nominated performers include Kelly David Carr, Jeff Cooper, Sarah Craig, Rial Ellsworth, Robert Gould, Danielle Gustaveson, Ansley Gwinn, Amanda Pickard Hardie, Stephanie Laubscher, Morgan McCrary, Gary Morgan, Topher Payne, Ed Richardson, Jill Shedd, Maggie Taylor, Barbara Cole Uterhardt, and Travis Young,

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The Darker Face of the Earth (1979 w/ several rewrites) Movement ...

Rita Dove’s “Darker Face of the Earth” is a resituation or rehistoricization of the Oedipus myth on a Southern plantation.  Bringing to my mind some of the thematic concerns in the movie “Mandingo”, this play was a wonderful juxtaposition to the original Sophoclean text and I think, an appropriate way to frame the larger questions of how the institution of slavery impacted everyone who lived under its umbrella and the more important (or perhaps equally worthy question) of the ramifications on the African-American psyche of being disconnected from one’s identity.

As you read Dove’s play and the article, “Slavery and Fate:  The Darker Face of the Earth” (passed out in class on 3/2), I want you to ponder and respond to the following questions:

1.  What are the Africanisms present in the text (go back to the article posted on BB earlier in the semester about Africanisms and Neo-Africanisms in Black Theatre)?

2.  What dramaturgical similarities this play shares with the other two plays covered in this unit – “for colored girls…” and “for black boys…”?  One play, Dove’s play is a rehistoricization of another and one could argue that Mason’s play, “for black boys…” is a resituation of Shange’s “for colored girls…” in the black male experience (they also work together intertextually – but you covered that in another blog).

3.  Even though Dove’s work is not a part of the Black Arts Movement formally, there are some thematic parallels.  Identify them and elaborate on how they speak to the spirit of the Black Arts Movement.

The revolution in Haiti where the African slaves freed themselves, is one Africanism presented in this play. This historical event in Haiti served to inspire the African American slaves to strive for freedom. I think the Bible and the religious influences were also a big part of the play. Also, Scylla’s role as the prophesier/voodoo/conjurer was something else that we have not experienced in any of our other plays. Most importantly the ancestral connection and the desire for freedom were the main Africanisms in this play. The fact that this play is largely similar to Oedipus (as “for black boys…” is similar to “for colored girls…”) is a dramaturgical similarity. Another similarity is the emphasis on the negative situation. For “The Darker Face of the Earth” it is slavery and its impact on everyone, and for the other two plays, it is the hardships, challenges, and unfairness experienced by colored girls and black boys. Both the Black Arts Movement and this play stressed a need for revolution. Both stressed violence to achieve their goal. The slaves were ready to do whatever it took to be free. The Black Arts Movement stressed changing the social system for blacks during the time (due to the unequal treatment of blacks). Augustus ignored the African culture whereas many people during the Black Arts Movement encouraged a back to Africa movement. In the end, the movement as well as the slaves in the play achieved their goal.

The darker face of the earth, a play

The darker face of the earth, a verse play in fourteen scenes

The Darker Face of the Earth, A Verse Play

Critical voicings of black liberation, resistance and representations in the Americas

Mnemopoetics, memory and slavery in African American drama