The Gospel According to James and Other Plays - Paperback

by Charles Smith (Author)

This collection of five award-winning plays by Charles Smith includes Jelly Belly, Free Man of Color, Pudd'nhead Wilson, Knock Me a Kiss, and The Gospel According to James. Powerful, provocative, and entertaining, these plays have been produced by professional theater companies across the country and abroad. Four of the plays are based on historical people and events from W.E.B. Du Bois and Countee Cullen to the Harlem Renaissance. Accurate in the way they capture the political and cultural milieu of their historical settings, and courageous in the way they grapple with difficult questions such as race, education, religion, and social class, these plays jump off the page just as powerfully as they come to life on stage. This first-ever collection from one of the nation's leading African American playwrights is a journey down the complex road of race and history.

Author Biography

Charles R. Smith is an award-winning playwright and member of the Playwrights Ensemble of the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. He is also Distinguished Professor of Theatre at Ohio University, where he heads the Professional Playwriting Program. His plays explore contemporary issues of race, identity, and politics in America.