How, pray tell, did the author fail to mention THE COLORED MUSEUM, a biting comedy rich with satire and examination of the tropes of black culture's themes and archetypes? George C. Wolfe's 1986 work deconstructed, excoriated - and celebrated - well before Tyler Perry became Madea and it went on to become another black theater classic.
It also needs to be mentioned that popular black culture is far more experienced with examining the culture’s own archetypes of than the author gives it credit for. These new dramatists who are deconstructing the urban stage play sound wonderful, their work is certainly timely, and they are part if a rich tradition.
(On a side note, the audio version of this article was a delight to listen to.)
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The vitriol directed at Mr. Perry by his so-called artistic peers always seems to escalate whenever his amazing accomplishments are publicized in the mainstream media. Haters gonna hate.
This is...A STRETCH.
It could be argued that YouTube and social media have influenced this younger generation of playwrights as much as Tyler Perry, likely more so. Absurdity and "inappropriate" humor has always been a part of theater and literature (Brecht. Twain. Black performers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Comedians like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor). Tyler Perry didn't INVENT this, and most of the time doesn't even do it WELL. But I'll admit that he does speak to theater-going African Americans in ways in which they either see their own lives reflected, or as a diversion from said lives. In either case, he doesn't speak to me. Maybe that makes me "elitist," but fine. I'll own that. And don't get me started on his extremely one-dimensional, dare I say SEXIST, depictions of Black women in his work. Look at how he did the bare minimum with "For Colored Girls" when Ntozake Shange basically DREW A ROAD MAP FOR HIM.
I haven't seen "Slave Play" or "Fairview" (although a Black female actor I know who saw the latter HATED it), but I think this new generation of playwrights (I'll include Young Jean Lee and Antoinette Nwandu in this group) write for shock value and feigned "wokeness" FIRST, emotion and personal reflection second. But at least they're TRYING to say something. Tyler Perry is performative even when he PERFORMS. How can that be inspiring to artists? Or society?!
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Why are none of the many outstanding female playwrights acknowledged in this article?
One more comment:
"And yet, for ["A Raisin in the Sun"] to achieve maximal devastation, it has to stay in 1959."
DOES IT, THOUGH?! I think you could stage a updated “Raisin” in a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side post-2008 mortgage crash and it would be even MORE devastating!
This was just great. It opened my mind and opened my eyes, and I didn't read it-- I enjoyed listening to the reading of this walk through many stages of theater.
Isn't this always-on display in the theater? Even in the past, O'Neil plays where critiqued differently than Williams plays. The play regarded as better or worse than depending on the audience. Rent speaks to a different audience than Cats or In the heights.