Plays
Plays that are in the public domain/without copyright will have an attached pdf. We will not provide pdfs for plays that are not public domain as we do not want to take revenue away from those authors. We will instead provide links to the publishers’ website.
Pass Over by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu
Moses and Kitch stand around on the corner – talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space with his own agenda and derails their plans. Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young men stuck in a cycle just looking for a way out.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson
It's 1927 and Ma Rainey, the "Mother of the Blues," is recording new sides of old favorites in a rundown studio in Chicago. Fiery and determined, Ma Rainey fights to retain control over her music, while her cocky trumpet player Levee dreams of making his own name in the business. More than music goes down in August Wilson's riveting portrayal of rage, racism, self-hatred and exploitation.
Rachel by Angelina Wild Grimke
Originally titled Blessed are the Barren, this three-act play depicts an educated, sensitive young woman who comes to understanding of the realities of American racism. Eventually she experiences acute melancholia because of this new understanding. In Act One it is clear that her love for children inspires a deep desire to someday carry her own. She proceeds to fill her mother's house with little brown and black children, whom she lovingly tends. Her mother reveals to her and her brother the fact that their father and another brother were lynched 10 years earlier. In the Acts that follow, Rachel learns of the racism the young children she loves have been made to endure in their school and resolves to never have children. In so doing, she must ultimately reject the love of her brother's friend John Strong, the man she loves.
A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller
In a segregated Louisiana army camp in 1944, Vernon C. Waters, the sergeant of a Black company, has been murdered. Captain Taylor, the white C.O., worries the murderer may be a white officer or the local Klan. Richard Davenport, a Black captain, is assigned to investigate. Taylor, fearing the assignment of a Black investigator means the case is to be swept under the rug, attempts to discourage Davenport. But Davenport perseveres, discovering deep-seated hatred and corruption among the the men in the company. Despite each soldier's motive for the killing, Davenport eventually solves the case, revealing a truth more shocking than the murder itself.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange
Capturing the brutal, tender and dramatic lives of contemporary Black women, For Colored Girls... offers a transformative, riveting evening of provocative dance, music and poetry.
De Turkey and De Law by Zora Neale Hurston
A three act come-dy about two friends in rural Eatonville, Florida, who vie for the affections of the same young woman. Apparently, the way to woman's heart is through her stomach as a prized wild turkey is to be her gift. The gifts will hopefully lead to a bit more than dinner. Hurston creates high comedy from her tale of rural African-American life and writes with affection and respect for her characters -- but not the lives they lead. Beneath the surface of the comedy runs an implied criticism of American society.