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Florence
Paperback
Published January 1, 2012
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About the author
Alice Childress
35 books64 followersAlice Childress (October 12, 1916 – August 14, 1994) was an American playwright, actor, and author.
She took odd jobs to pay for herself, including domestic worker, photo retoucher, assistant machinist, saleslady, and insurance agent. In 1939, she studied Drama in the American Negro Theatre (ANT), and performed there for 11 years. She acted in Abram Hill and John Silvera's On Strivers Row (1940), Theodore Brown's Natural Man (1941), and Philip Yordan's Anna Lucasta (1944). There she won acclaim as an actress in numerous other productions, and moved to Broadway with the transfer of ANT's hit comedy Anna Lucasta, which became the longest-running all-black play in Broadway history. Alice also became involved in social causes. She formed an off-broadway union for actors. Her first play, Florence, was produced off-Broadway in 1950.
Her next play, Just a Little Simple (1950), was adapted from the Langston Hughes' novel Simple Speaks His Mind. It was produced in Harlem at the Club Baron Theatre. Her next play, Gold Through the Trees (1952), gave her the distinction of being one of the first African-American women to have work professionally produced on the New York stage. Her next work, Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White, was completed in 1962. The setting of the show is South Carolina during World War I and deals with a forbidden interracial love affair. Due to the scandalous nature of the show and the stark realism it presented, it was impossible for Childress to get any theatre in New York to put it up. The show premiered at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and later in Chicago. It was not until 1972 that it played in New York at the New York Shakespeare Festival. It was later filmed and shown on TV, but many stations refused to play it.
In 1965, she was featured in the BBC presentation The Negro in the American Theatre. From 1966 to 1968, she was awarded as a scholar-in-residence by Harvard University at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Alice Childress is also known for her literary works. Among these are Those Other People (1989) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973). Also, she wrote a screenplay for the 1978 film based on A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich. Her 1979 novel A Short Walk was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Childress described her writing as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society. In conjunction with her composer husband, Nathan Woodard, she wrote a number of musical plays, including Sea Island Song and Young Martin Luther King.
(from Wikipedia)
She took odd jobs to pay for herself, including domestic worker, photo retoucher, assistant machinist, saleslady, and insurance agent. In 1939, she studied Drama in the American Negro Theatre (ANT), and performed there for 11 years. She acted in Abram Hill and John Silvera's On Strivers Row (1940), Theodore Brown's Natural Man (1941), and Philip Yordan's Anna Lucasta (1944). There she won acclaim as an actress in numerous other productions, and moved to Broadway with the transfer of ANT's hit comedy Anna Lucasta, which became the longest-running all-black play in Broadway history. Alice also became involved in social causes. She formed an off-broadway union for actors. Her first play, Florence, was produced off-Broadway in 1950.
Her next play, Just a Little Simple (1950), was adapted from the Langston Hughes' novel Simple Speaks His Mind. It was produced in Harlem at the Club Baron Theatre. Her next play, Gold Through the Trees (1952), gave her the distinction of being one of the first African-American women to have work professionally produced on the New York stage. Her next work, Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White, was completed in 1962. The setting of the show is South Carolina during World War I and deals with a forbidden interracial love affair. Due to the scandalous nature of the show and the stark realism it presented, it was impossible for Childress to get any theatre in New York to put it up. The show premiered at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and later in Chicago. It was not until 1972 that it played in New York at the New York Shakespeare Festival. It was later filmed and shown on TV, but many stations refused to play it.
In 1965, she was featured in the BBC presentation The Negro in the American Theatre. From 1966 to 1968, she was awarded as a scholar-in-residence by Harvard University at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Alice Childress is also known for her literary works. Among these are Those Other People (1989) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973). Also, she wrote a screenplay for the 1978 film based on A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich. Her 1979 novel A Short Walk was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Childress described her writing as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society. In conjunction with her composer husband, Nathan Woodard, she wrote a number of musical plays, including Sea Island Song and Young Martin Luther King.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2024
Alice Childress is fast becoming one of my favourite playwrights, so much so that I decided to go back to her first play 'Florence', and work my way to her most present.
Something I find remarkable about Alice Childress's plays is her ability to convey the differences between the black and white 'experience' of that time, both overtly and covertly. Florences opens in such a way, a segregated railway station divided down the middle, instantly and quite literally 'setting the stage' for the difference in experiences to emerge.
Alice, time and again, creates 3d characters that can live and breathe off a page.
Although Florence only features 4 characters, each of them is full of thoughts & experiences; allowing such a range of interactions as you see their individual biases, beliefs, and upbringings come to life. From Mama habitually referring to Mrs Carter as 'Maam' despite being told not to, to Mrs. Carter's innocent questioning of whether Mama has read her brother's book, that within the same sentence turns into an assumption that she cannot read due to her being black, so instead turns into 'Have you heard of my brother's book' - it's just a wonderful insight into the deep-seated beliefs of that time and how the two races interact with each other.
Something I have to draw attention to that illustrates this point so poignantly is a conversation between Mama and Mrs. Carter.
After talking to Mrs. Carter about her daughter (Florence) aspiring to be an actress, Mrs. Cater confesses to being one and expresses that it's extremely difficult, even despite her array of contacts, so Mama should encourage Florence to quit. Undeterred, Mama asks whether Mrs. Carter would be able to help Florence out using her network of contacts, to which Mrs. Carter agrees by writing down an address for her friend and telling her to pass it on to Florence to go and visit in a week as her 'experience won't matter'. After being thanked, Mrs. Carter goes on to say she'll tell her friend no heavy washing or ironing and that she'd take Florence herself but already has someone who's been with her for years - a truly wonderful portrayal of a sheer lack of understanding and the automatic thought processes that took place in that time, a reinforced belief system that did not allow White people to see Blacks as equal, even in ambition.
Although only 17 pages long, you feel like a fly on the wall to a situation that undoubtedly could've happened many times over, it feels truthful and thus, doesn't need to be any longer.
Something I find remarkable about Alice Childress's plays is her ability to convey the differences between the black and white 'experience' of that time, both overtly and covertly. Florences opens in such a way, a segregated railway station divided down the middle, instantly and quite literally 'setting the stage' for the difference in experiences to emerge.
Alice, time and again, creates 3d characters that can live and breathe off a page.
Although Florence only features 4 characters, each of them is full of thoughts & experiences; allowing such a range of interactions as you see their individual biases, beliefs, and upbringings come to life. From Mama habitually referring to Mrs Carter as 'Maam' despite being told not to, to Mrs. Carter's innocent questioning of whether Mama has read her brother's book, that within the same sentence turns into an assumption that she cannot read due to her being black, so instead turns into 'Have you heard of my brother's book' - it's just a wonderful insight into the deep-seated beliefs of that time and how the two races interact with each other.
Something I have to draw attention to that illustrates this point so poignantly is a conversation between Mama and Mrs. Carter.
After talking to Mrs. Carter about her daughter (Florence) aspiring to be an actress, Mrs. Cater confesses to being one and expresses that it's extremely difficult, even despite her array of contacts, so Mama should encourage Florence to quit. Undeterred, Mama asks whether Mrs. Carter would be able to help Florence out using her network of contacts, to which Mrs. Carter agrees by writing down an address for her friend and telling her to pass it on to Florence to go and visit in a week as her 'experience won't matter'. After being thanked, Mrs. Carter goes on to say she'll tell her friend no heavy washing or ironing and that she'd take Florence herself but already has someone who's been with her for years - a truly wonderful portrayal of a sheer lack of understanding and the automatic thought processes that took place in that time, a reinforced belief system that did not allow White people to see Blacks as equal, even in ambition.
Although only 17 pages long, you feel like a fly on the wall to a situation that undoubtedly could've happened many times over, it feels truthful and thus, doesn't need to be any longer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review