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Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White
It is the summer of 1918, there is a war in Europe, and a smaller war in South Carolina. Julie is an African-American seamstress. Herman is a white man that has kept company with her for years. As their growing attraction accelerates into an affair, they must of course, deal with the prejudices and wrath of ignorance in early 20th century America.
73 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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About the author
Alice Childress
35 books65 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 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 2, 2020
Alice Childress, born on October 13, 1916, was a pioneer member of the American Negro Theater company. Over a career spanning decades as a major influence in American theater, she could list among her friends and acquaintances Lorraine Hansberry, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee. Even though I enjoy reading drama to get the breadth of the human experience, Childress had been an unknown playwright to me. In a summer challenge, I needed a book with “wed” in the title, and when I did a GoodReads search, Wedding Bands: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White was the title with the most intrigue that popped up. As the goal is always to discover new authors from across the literary spectrum, I was able to obtain a copy of this ground breaking play from my library.
Originally written in 1962, Wedding Bands was considered controversial when it was first produced. Set in 1918 South Carolina, the drama is the story of Julia and Herman, an interracial couple who has been married in everything but name for the last ten years. Although Childress was light enough to pass for white, she maintained that the story was not her own family history but an oral history that she heard from her grandmother who had lived in South Carolina. At the time, interracial romance was a big no-no, a taboo large enough that the play did not appear on Broadway for another ten years. Wedding Bands first appeared on stage at the University of Michigan in 1966, with Ruby Dee in the lead role as Julia. Dee maintains that the role was not written for her, but Childress approached her because they were on friendly terms. Dee ended up playing the role of Julia in subsequent productions; however, she notes that the character would have been more appropriate for a younger actress like Alfre Woodard. As a result, Julia is another character who would appear on Dee’s illustrious resume.
In 1918, Julia lead a nomadic life, shunned by both the black and white world. The African American community denounced her for being loose and taking up with a white man. At the play’s opening, she had just moved into a backyard row apartment owned by Fanny. The other women on the block- Fanny, Lulu, and Mattie did not understand why Julia was either not married or how she could trust a white man enough to call him her “husband”. Julia contrasts with Mattie, whose husband October is away fighting in World War I. She is left to raise her daughter Teeta on her own and desires to move to a northern city so that her family will have a better life when October returns from the war. Herman contrasts with Nelson, Lulu’s son who has signed up with the navy to fight in the war. Nelson has eyes on Julia, and Lulu questions why a decent Negro man like her son is not good enough for Julia, and why she had to take up with a white man. Fanny notes that everyone should stay with their own kind, and she gives the example of herself as homeowner as uplifting her race. Julia does not heed advice as the drama moves to Act II.
Herman is also denounced by his mother and sister, proud southerners who list John C. Calhoun as one of their heroes. Herman’s mother has tried for years to marry him off to the widow Celestine, a nice white woman. Herman is content working in a bakery and being the scorn of his community for taking up with a black woman. They are not married because in 1918 South Carolina, and it is considered miscegenation. Julia says that the love she has for Herman is the same as the love Mattie has for October. The only difference is skin color. Herman and Julia celebrate their ten year anniversary, complete with a wedding band and cake baked by Herman, and make plans to move to New York. The women listen in and shake their heads, whereas Herman’s mother has nothing but shame. They make for untraditional bedfellows as the supporting cast urges the couple to take up with their own kind, being young enough to still start families and not throw away the rest of their lives as outcasts. The couple out of pride does not budge.
During the mid 1960s, Wedding Bands was seen as a controversial play. Over time, it became the most staged of Childress’ plays as society as a whole became more tolerant of interracial relationships. Julia and Herman were born about seventy five years too early because in 21st century American their relationship would be seen as “normal.” Alice Childress passed away in 1994 but not before writing a variety of drama, musical theater, and novels, including a Pulitzer runner up in 1979. I would not have discovered this pioneering author if it were not for a reading challenge. I will be intrigued to read more of her work moving forward.
4 stars
Originally written in 1962, Wedding Bands was considered controversial when it was first produced. Set in 1918 South Carolina, the drama is the story of Julia and Herman, an interracial couple who has been married in everything but name for the last ten years. Although Childress was light enough to pass for white, she maintained that the story was not her own family history but an oral history that she heard from her grandmother who had lived in South Carolina. At the time, interracial romance was a big no-no, a taboo large enough that the play did not appear on Broadway for another ten years. Wedding Bands first appeared on stage at the University of Michigan in 1966, with Ruby Dee in the lead role as Julia. Dee maintains that the role was not written for her, but Childress approached her because they were on friendly terms. Dee ended up playing the role of Julia in subsequent productions; however, she notes that the character would have been more appropriate for a younger actress like Alfre Woodard. As a result, Julia is another character who would appear on Dee’s illustrious resume.
In 1918, Julia lead a nomadic life, shunned by both the black and white world. The African American community denounced her for being loose and taking up with a white man. At the play’s opening, she had just moved into a backyard row apartment owned by Fanny. The other women on the block- Fanny, Lulu, and Mattie did not understand why Julia was either not married or how she could trust a white man enough to call him her “husband”. Julia contrasts with Mattie, whose husband October is away fighting in World War I. She is left to raise her daughter Teeta on her own and desires to move to a northern city so that her family will have a better life when October returns from the war. Herman contrasts with Nelson, Lulu’s son who has signed up with the navy to fight in the war. Nelson has eyes on Julia, and Lulu questions why a decent Negro man like her son is not good enough for Julia, and why she had to take up with a white man. Fanny notes that everyone should stay with their own kind, and she gives the example of herself as homeowner as uplifting her race. Julia does not heed advice as the drama moves to Act II.
Herman is also denounced by his mother and sister, proud southerners who list John C. Calhoun as one of their heroes. Herman’s mother has tried for years to marry him off to the widow Celestine, a nice white woman. Herman is content working in a bakery and being the scorn of his community for taking up with a black woman. They are not married because in 1918 South Carolina, and it is considered miscegenation. Julia says that the love she has for Herman is the same as the love Mattie has for October. The only difference is skin color. Herman and Julia celebrate their ten year anniversary, complete with a wedding band and cake baked by Herman, and make plans to move to New York. The women listen in and shake their heads, whereas Herman’s mother has nothing but shame. They make for untraditional bedfellows as the supporting cast urges the couple to take up with their own kind, being young enough to still start families and not throw away the rest of their lives as outcasts. The couple out of pride does not budge.
During the mid 1960s, Wedding Bands was seen as a controversial play. Over time, it became the most staged of Childress’ plays as society as a whole became more tolerant of interracial relationships. Julia and Herman were born about seventy five years too early because in 21st century American their relationship would be seen as “normal.” Alice Childress passed away in 1994 but not before writing a variety of drama, musical theater, and novels, including a Pulitzer runner up in 1979. I would not have discovered this pioneering author if it were not for a reading challenge. I will be intrigued to read more of her work moving forward.
4 stars
June 2, 2023
3.5, rounded down.
The Vulture review (below) is accurate that Childress has been largely forgotten/ignored and isn't part of the canon - I didn't read anything by her in all my many years of theatre classes, which is a shame. This is a well-made play, recently revived to acclaim off-Broadway, and is an interesting artifact; written in 1962 (5 years before the Loving v. VA. decision), but not performed till a decade later, it explores all the pros and cons about so-called miscegenation, for both races, under a regime of systemic racism.
Set in 1918, which probably works against the playwright's points by setting it in the long distant past, the characters are sharply defined, and the dialogue often crackles (a handful of uses of the 'N-word' is what probably prevented it from being produced initially). I had a little bit of trouble believing in some of the whiplash reversals the characters go through, but those could probably be smoothed out in performance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/08/th...
https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/theat...
The Vulture review (below) is accurate that Childress has been largely forgotten/ignored and isn't part of the canon - I didn't read anything by her in all my many years of theatre classes, which is a shame. This is a well-made play, recently revived to acclaim off-Broadway, and is an interesting artifact; written in 1962 (5 years before the Loving v. VA. decision), but not performed till a decade later, it explores all the pros and cons about so-called miscegenation, for both races, under a regime of systemic racism.
Set in 1918, which probably works against the playwright's points by setting it in the long distant past, the characters are sharply defined, and the dialogue often crackles (a handful of uses of the 'N-word' is what probably prevented it from being produced initially). I had a little bit of trouble believing in some of the whiplash reversals the characters go through, but those could probably be smoothed out in performance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/08/th...
https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/theat...
August 28, 2022
First play I read for college and it was good! Short, kinda Sula vibes without the magical realism and a little less serious. Definitely would recommend if you want a short play that moves pretty quick
May 10, 2015
Set in South Carolina in 1918. A sweet play of a white man loving a black woman for ten years. Herman and Julia.It's against the law to marry. He buys ship tickets to take her north. Julia is practical. His mother tries to stop their relationship.
I like how the author wove the story with the other characters and how it all fell into place. If I say more, the story would be given away.
I like how the author wove the story with the other characters and how it all fell into place. If I say more, the story would be given away.
October 17, 2016
After having read this play, it became quite clear to me that things haven't changed one iota. It's a great play, not one of my favorites from Childress, but still certainly one to shake up post-racial America in a significant and necessary way.
January 22, 2016
Read it for my Directing class and it was good. I'm gonna do direct a scene from it.
Read
April 11, 2023read for a class learning about Afropessimism and analyzing the play through that lens. very interesting, hope to read more from Alice Childress.
October 2, 2024
let me die
August 18, 2022
Every work I read by Alice Childress begs the question: If you're not going to write about the big questions and the hard, ugly truths than why bother writing at all. This particular play takes place on the 10 year anniversary of a black woman and white man who, though in love, are forbidden to marry by law. Written in 1962, the script was considered so incendiary that it wasn't staged in NYC until a decade later. Some television stations refused to air the TV movie version that came out two years later. So yeah, she struck a nerve.
September 24, 2016
An extremely well structured play examining how one woman's love managed to turn her into an outcast in two communities. Great character dynamics, intense dialogue, and a stark look at race relations in the Jim Crow-era which allowed the play to not hesitate to expose both past and present emotional conflicts caused by race.
December 11, 2022
Definitely not my favorite Childress play. I think it's its 1918 setting that make it seem a little strange. This is a play written in 1966 – just prior to the Supreme Court's Loving v. Virginia decision – but it is set near the end of the Great War. I don't know... I felt very distant from this play from the perspective of the 21st century. I really dislike the ending, too. Perhaps maybe it's the finality of it that troubles me. Much too tidy for a representation of the real world.
December 10, 2023
I had never read this play until 2023 but I wanted to read in before seeing it performed live at the Stratford Festival. I knew about the 1967 unanimous Court decision in Virginia that struck down state laws banning marriage between individuals of different races and had seen the movie Loving. Wedding Band, was set in 1918, almost 50 years before the law against miscegenation was struck down. I loved the way the play was written. The characters, the plot and the dialogue all rang true for me. Childress wrote this play in 1962 and for a number of reasons it was not performed on stage until a decade or so later. What a shame that people could not see it until then, and before the Virginia court decision. It's also a shame that this play is still not performed live, or discussed in drama classes, as often as it should be. Lest We Forget.
October 14, 2019
A gut-punch of a realistic play about na interracial couple in South Carolina during WWI that would play relevantly today for its incisive understanding of the ways racism undercuts and distances Black and white friends/lovers/couples from one another.
Currently reading
February 19, 2020ukciy.kh
September 15, 2020
Was interesting, and also unfortunate, to see how the themes this play addresses are so relevant today.
October 6, 2025
convinced my professor is incompetent (and maybe racist?) but i appreciate getting to read about interracial tensions.
January 16, 2023
Structurally a bit all over the place, but what is there is very powerful and honest, shockingly so for a play of this time. Childress' dialogue is always believable and nuanced, while her characters always given depth. In this case, I think the desire to flesh out everyone involved makes for a bit of a meandering piece, but I'm glad to read a playwright who prioritizes character so much, who understands the importance of the people speaking the words.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews