PURLIE VICTORIOUS Study Guide : simplebooklet.com

1Dear Educators, Welcome to the world of Purlie Victorious: A non-confederate romp through the cotton patch. For many of you, this may be your ﬁrst encounter of this classic that was written by Ossie Davis more than ﬁfty years ago. While the show addresses the serious theme of racial discrimination and segregation, it does so with great wit and humor. Ossie Davis invites us to laugh our way to social change.To best appreciate the show, one must understand its historical context as well as the many techniques that comedians have used through the centuries to poke fun at injustices around them. This study guide is designed to help you give your students valuable background information in advance of your attendance of the performance as well as discussion prompts and in classroom activities, which you can use as a follow-up to the show. We have intentionally chosen an interdisciplinary approach to provide multiple points of entry. We hope you will feel free to pick and choose the sections that are most relevant to and best complement your curriculum.Above all, we hope that your students’ experience of Purlie Victorious will ignite their creative spirit, tickle their funny bones, and encourage them to continue to be advocates for the civil rights of all.Best,The Producers of Purlie Victorious– FROM “PURLIE’S I.O.U.”

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2 3“Purlie Victorious” … is broad comedy, but it makes its point by laughing at segregation, not at the people involved in it. Mixed with the humor there is intelligent, incisive commentary on segregation, discrimination and the slow pace of integration. You can laugh at the usual cliches and wonder if they do not border on some of the things which our colored citizens protest against, but in the end you realize that they never really conceal the play’s sincere plea to ﬁnd solutions free of bitterness and bigotry.If you have not seen “Purlie Victorious” I think it is well for you as an American citizen to see it and to ponder our racial problem, not as a question aﬀecting our lives here in the United States but as a question aﬀecting our standing and our real sincerity among the peoples of the world.”– First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, My DayTABLE OF CONTENTSCast of Characters ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 03Plot Synopsis ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 04About the Playwright ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 05In His Own Words: Ossie Davis ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 06In Conversation with Director Kenny Leon .............................................................................................................................................................. 09Leslie Odom Jr. on Playing Purlie ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 11Designing for the Stage ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12PURLIE VICTORIOUS in Historical Context ............................................................................................................................................................... 16Laughing Through the Pain .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 22Digesting the Play Post-Attendance: An Exploration of Themes, Characters and Performance .................................................................................................................................. 27Make Civil Rights from Civil Wrongs ........................................................................................................................................................................... 30Release: Revolutionary Laughter and The Power of Humor as a Tool of Emancipation......................................................................... 31Education Standards............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 40(in order of appearance)Purlie Victorious Judson “a man consumed with that divine impatience, without which nothing truly good, or truly bad, or even truly ridiculous, is ever accomplished in this world—with rhetoric and ﬂourish to match.”Lutibelle Gussie Mae Jenkins “is like a thousand of Negro girls you might know. Eager, desirous—even anxious, keenly in search for life and for love trembling on the brink of self-conﬁdences and vigorous young womanhood — but afraid to take the ﬁnal leap: because no one has ever told her it is no longer necessary to be white in order to be virtuous, charming or beautiful.”Missy Judson Purlie’s sister-in-law. She is “ageless….she is strong and of good cheer—of a certain shrewdness, yet full of desire to believe.” Gitlow Judson Purlie’s brother, Missy’s husband. Gitlow works as a cotton picker for Ol’ Cap’n CotchipeeCharlie Cotchipee the son of Ol’ Cap’n CotchipeeIdella Landy “a Negro cook and woman of all work, who has been with the Cotchipee family since time immemorial. She is the only mother Charlie…..has ever known”Ol’ Cap‘n CotchipeePlantation ownerThe SheriffThe DeputyCAST OF CHARACTERS The cotton plantation country of the Old SouthIn the late 1950s at a time when the Jim Crow laws were being freshly challenged by the American Civil Rights Movement. Photo by Marc Franklin

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4 54 5Scene 1 - Purlie Victorious Judson returns to his small hometown in Georgia, with Lutibelle Gussie Mae Jenkins and a plan to win back his family inheritance from Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee, the plantation owner. Purlie’s dream is to buy back Big Bethel, the community’s church, so that he can preach freedom to the cotton pickers. Purlie shares his plan with his brother Gitlow and sister-in-law Missy, who despite their initial skepticism agree to help. Scene 2 - Later that afternoon, in the back oﬃce of the village commissary (general store), Idella is tending to Charlie, Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s son, who got a black eye in a barroom brawl the previous night over his support of racial integration. Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee does not share or respect his son’s progressive values and arrives to punish Charlie. Charlie distracts his father by delivering the cotton and commissary reports. Every negro family is in debt, and Charlie challenges his father’s “cheating” ways. Ol’ Cap’n becomes agitated. Charlie holds his ground; Ol’ Cap’n runs him oﬀ and then collapses due to the stress.Scene 1 - It is time for Purlie’s plan. Gitlow lets Purlie and Lutiebelle into the back door of the commissary. Lutiebelle is dressed up as Purlie’s deceased Cousin Bee, whom she will pretend to be to win back the family inheritance. Purlie and Lutiebelle rehearse one last time before Ol’ Cap’n arrives. All does not go according to plan, but Purlie jumps in and wins Ol’ Cap’n over with ﬂattery. OI Cap’n agrees to give the money and asks Lutiebelle to sign a receipt, which exposes their ruse, and a ﬁght ensues. Purlie and Lutiebelle escape.Scene 2 - Two days later, Purlie returns to Missy and Gitlow’s shack. Idella is there looking for Charlie, who is missing. Missy thanks her for getting Ol’ Cap’n to drop the charges against Purlie and encourages Purlie to ask Lutiebelle to marry him. He is determined to get his Church back. Gitlow returns bragging that he has secured the $500 inheritance from Ol’ Cap’n, in exchange for Lutiebelle working at the house. Purlie fumes. Lutiebelle enters in a disheveled state. Ol’ Cap’n has cornered her in the pantry. Furious, Purlie heads up to the house to confront Ol’ Cap’n.Scene 1 - Later that night, Lutiebelle and Missy wait at the shack for Purlie to return. Gitlow arrives without news. He suspects Purlie has ﬂed rather than confront Ol’ Cap’n. Lutiebelle and Missy worry. Finally, Purlie returns with $500 and Ol’ Cap’n’s bull whip. Purlie tells the others how he sought vengeance on Ol’ Cap’n. The others celebrate his victory until Idella arrives and reveals the truth about how Purlie has secured the money and won back Big Bethel. Epilogue - The play concludes with Purlie at the pulpit in Big Bethel, oﬀering a unique and heartfelt blessing for unity and freedom for all.RAIFORD CHATMAN “OSSIE” DAVIS (1917-2005) WAS AN AMERICAN ACTOR, WRITER, DIRECTOR, AND ACTIVIST. Davis was born in Cogdell, Georgia, He inadvertently became known as “Ossie” when his birth certiﬁcate was being ﬁled and his mother’s pronunciation of his name as “R. C. Davis” was misheard by the courthouse clerk.Davis attended Howard University but dropped out in 1939 to fulﬁll his desire for a career in the theater in New York by joining the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem; he later attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Davis served in the Medical Corps of the United States Army during World War II. Upon his return, he made his Broadway debut in 1946 in Jeb, followed by his ﬁlm debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier Film No Way Out. In 1948, he married Ruby Dee, a fellow actor, with whom he frequently performed until his death. In 1961, Mr. Davis’ play Purlie Victorious was produced on Broadway; he performed in the title role, alongside his wife, Ruby, as Luttibelle. Until that time, only a handful of Black playwrights including Willis Richardson (1923), Garland Anderson (1925), Langston Hughes (1935), and Lorraine Hansbury (1959) had ever been produced on Broadway.Throughout the next several decades, Davis had an illustrious career on stage and screen — both large and small. Davis found recognition late in his life by working in several of director Spike Lee’s ﬁlms, including School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, She Hates Me and Get on the Bus. He also appeared in several popular 1990s ﬁlms, including Grumpy Old Men and Dr. Dolittle. In addition to writing over a dozen plays, Mr. Davis was the author of three children’s books: Escape to Freedom (honored by the American Library Association and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award), Langston and Just Like Martin. Davis and Dee were well known as civil rights activists during the Civil Rights Movement and were close friends of Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other icons of the era. They were involved in organizing the 1963 civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and served as its emcees. Davis, alongside Ahmed Osman, delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X. He re-read part of this eulogy at the end of Spike Lee's ﬁlm Malcolm X. He also delivered a stirring tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, at a memorial in New York's Central Park the day after King was assassinated.Ossie Davis received many honors and citations throughout his lifetime, including the N.Y. Urban League Frederick Douglass Award, the NAACP Image Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 1994, David was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. In December 2004, Mr. Davis and his wife Ruby Dee were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors.Mr. Davis died on February 4, 2005, at the age of 87.PLOT SYNOPSIS ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT Photo by Marc FranklinCourtesy of National Archives at College Park

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6 76 7PLAYWRIGHT OSSIE DAVIS ON THE CREATION OF PURLIE VICTORIOUSAND HIS UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY OF HUMOR AMIDST THE BATTLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS(Excerpted from Purlie Victorious: A Commemorative published in 1993)On September 29, 1961, in the midst of a nationwide struggle by African-Americans for civil rights, Purlie Victorious opened on Broadway at the Cort theater. In the audience was Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, the spiritual father of that struggle. He was 93 years old; still he insisted on climbing the s tairs to our dressing room to tell Ruby and me how much he had enjoyed the play. Later in the run, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the play and commended it highly. Roy Wilkins of the NAACP wrote a letter to all the chapters urging them to come, and James Farmer and CORE bought out a preview for a beneﬁt.Even more astonishing — Malcolm X, controversial minster of the Nation of Islam, also came to see. Malcolm was an uncompromising Black Nationalist who did not believe in integration, which is certainly what Reverend Purlie was preaching, so we waited with bated breath to hear what he would say. He was more than commendatory; he was enthusiastic. Anything that held the “white devil” and his racist practices up to scorn and ridicule had his approval. These witnesses, and the reaction of the general public conﬁrmed for Ruby and me the important of what we were trying to do. But there were others — white and black, friends and colleagues, beloved and respected — who were vehement in their opposition to the play, which they felt in many ways to be condescending if not demeaning. To them, we Negroes were locked in a life and death struggle against white, bigoted, Jim Crow oppressors. The cause was serious, and laughter was the last thing we needed at a time like this — bad for morale, and deﬁnitely out of order. White folks already looked upon us as a race of clowns, incapable of acting like men, and that was a part of the problem. What we needed from the theater was not buﬀoons, but heroes hurling invectives, like Frederick Douglass and Patrick Henry. A play with characters speaking manfully of our anguish, who would inspire us, like Churchill at Dunkirk, and lead us into battle — raging, angry, bitter and unbending, warning white America, as David Walker had done way back in 1929, that this time we meant to have our freedom by any means necessary. If that meant killing and being killed, so be it. To them humor was not a weapon; it was rather a conﬁrmation of our cowardice — our lack of manly resolve and self-respect in the face of the enemy. Laughter, except as shared between black and whites based on mutual respect and understanding, was unacceptable. This was war. I knew the feelings well — the smoldering rage, the resentment of a people continually mocked, insulted, cheated, lied to, ignored, ridiculed, assaulted and killed. I had grown up a black boy in the South, and there was no racial indignity, except lynching and the chain gang, that had passed me by. I, too, was sick of it. My rights as an American and as a man always deferred, if not denied. I, too, had watched with horror what was happening on television and in the headlines. Anger and vengeance — an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth — seemed very much in order, and I was full of it. And that was exactly the kind of play I set out to write. But a funny thing happened on the way to production. The idea for what eventually became Purlie Victorious ﬁrst entered my mind…at a time when the 1954 Supreme Court decision against school segregation had been answered….by the lynching of Emmett Till, a ﬁfteen-year-old black boy, by two white men in Money, Mississippi, for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Having grown up in Waycross, Georgia, I felt particularly anguished. It awoke in me a deep and private hurt, stemming from an incident that had happened long ago when I was a very young boy. One day after school I was picked up by the police for no reason whatsoever and taken down to the station house. I was not arrested. Momma was never notiﬁed, and I was never threatened. There were just some word games and plenty of fun at my expense. Then one of the policemen poured syrup on my head. They laughed, and I laughed too. Then they gave me some peanut brittle to eat and turned me loose. I don’t remember being scared or angry. Maybe it made me feel special that these white men would take the time to “play” with a little colored boy. I probably washed out the syrup by sticking my head under the pump in the yard when I got home. Maybe I went to the swimming hole laughing and going on about my business. I don’t remember that part of it. I only remember that my six or seven-year-old mind knew that what happened at the police station that day wasn’t innocent — wasn’t fun. Deep down in the recesses of my heart I knew. I had been violated, mocked, insulted, and humiliated. I knew it, even if I didn’t know how to share it with anybody, not even Momma, and certainly not my father. It rankled. It left a question mark. It became my sin against myself of which I grew secretly ashamed. Over and over during the years, I play the moments back in my mind trying for a diﬀerent ending, with me feeling heroic this time. What happened that day, Emmett Till, and so much else of my life I brought to the writing of the play. And so it was after that work, I sat at the dining room table far into the night, pencil scratching loud and hard, venting my ancient fury, page after page after page. An eye for an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth for a tooth!But in the cold light of day, when I set out to make revisions on what had spewed form my pencil like hot lava the night before, I was appalled. The facts were there, embellished freely by the storyteller’s privileged imagination. The passion was there, but all overblown and swollen. I didn’t believe a single word my characters were saying. No white folks could possibly be as mean and hateful, no black folks such hopeless, helpless victims. I read it aloud and found it hard to keep myself from laughing.Still, night after night, spurred by what was constantly in the news, I wrestled with my cast of characters, trying to make them behave. But the closer I got to the facts hiding in my memory, the more ridiculous they became in retrospect.I ﬁnally gave up on the theatric vengeance. Forgot my high resolve to punish all white folks and just wrote. I let the characters take the play in hand and follow their own fates. Little by little, they began to reveal such inner lives and motives as was totally unexpected. I began to see them and appreciate them in a totally diﬀerent way. Gone now was the protest play I had promised myself, the memory of the little boy with a crown of lukewarm syrup, vengeance for Emmett Till and rage against the white oppressors. In its place was a new play with a whole new cast of characters, drawn from my own precious childhood memories of black life in the Cottonpatch, sprinkled with folktales and fables, sermons and storytelling……Over the more than ﬁve years it took to complete the play, and after it opened in September 1961, Ruby and I not only saw the struggle, we were right in the thick of it. We saw the brutality, the violence, the mutual rage and hostility day by day. There we were marching, demonstrating, meeting, strategizing, debating, raising funds for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later for the Black Panthers; writing and performing skits and sketches about the struggle at schools, churches, synagogues and at street corner rallies. Then every night the two of us returned to Broadway and to Purlie Victorious. It never occurred to me that what we did by day and what we did by night was not one and the same thing. But some critics saw things diﬀerently and accused us of treating the struggle and the people involved in it as a joke. IN HIS OWN WORDS: OSSIE DAVIS IN HIS OWN WORDS: OSSIE DAVISPhoto courtesy of New York Public LibraryOssie Davis, left, and Ruby Dee pose in front of their movie poster at the opening night gala of their ﬁlm “Gone Are the Days!” at the Trans-Lux East Theater on Sept. 23, 1963. AP Photo

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8 98 9I had little time, and no inclination, to respond to such criticism. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I swallowed my own doubts in the general wide and appreciative acceptance of the play. But now, these many years after opening night, the question again stands before me: not so much whether the play was a joke, but whether, given the war-like tenor of the times, the joke was out of order. Did I betray the struggle by implying that the whole aﬀair was ridiculous? Was not being able to keep a straight face a form of treason? Was laughing by night at the very things I marched against by day a defect of character?In retrospect, I think not. Where, ﬁnally, does a playwright get the plot and the characters from which to people his fancy, and hence his theater? A playwright’s ideas, characters and events come with their own truth and veriﬁcation. Purlie Victorious came to me from the culture of the Cottonpatch, a place that no longer exists except in memory. Most of the habits and folkways and social customs that now inform black culture had their foundation in that poor, rural, oppressive environment. Though slavery was dead, our life in general was tied to agriculture and the ol’ plantation. Our songs, our dances, our religion, our education, our politics — most of all our culture sprang from that common source… It was a common thread that ran from community to community stretching all the way back to slavery and holding us all together, enabling us to call ourselves a people… It was what separated us from the rest of America, and had a lifestyle all its own, handed down from one generation to the next…My parents and the culture of the world they gave me had a mighty hand in creating Purlie Victorious Judson. No people in America had a more atrocious life than my parents and their parents, a life of poverty, of fraud, of lynchings, of insults, of justice continually denied. Yet they never told these horrors without laughing at them. We know now they laughed to keep from crying…Life in the Cotton patch is ﬁnally over. Purlie belongs to the sunset of an era. In that regard, perhaps a part of my motivation must have been to take a brief look backwards in hope of catching one last glimpse. A bad time, a rough time, those racist years… And yet out of those years grew much that was irreplaceable. A mean world, full of pain, atrocity and horror, yet for many of us it was all the world we knew.I hope when collection time comes, and I am repossessed, the Reverend Purlie Victorious will come and bring the eulogy. He’ll be long-winded of course, but I won’t mind. All I’ll have to do is lie back in the narrow, wooden walls of my ﬁnal conﬁnement and listen to Purlie telling lies again, this time about me, putting me right up there with ol’ Bre’r Rabbit and High John the conqueror, still my heroes, still my role models. I think it’s been a long time coming. When Ossie Davis wrote this play in 1961, I think he was writing the truth back then, but we are still stepping into that same truth in 2023. The basic premise is “What would allow America to be the best version of itself?” If we get to the point where we can’t tell truth from lies, we’re in trouble. If we get to the place where we don’t understand that the integration of all people in the country is what makes our future a beautiful thing, then we’re misguided. This play is done in a style that is political satire so it allows you to laugh at a subject that would be too painful to listen to as a straight up drama. It allows you to laugh at the exaggeration of ideas, of people of institutions, and then hopefully when you go home or go back to school, you’ll think about seriousness of the subject matter which you just laughed at for an hour and a half. It’s a play that deals with politics, government, truth, love, family, church, and freedom. And at the center of it is the deﬁnition of the word freedom. Many times, because we were a country that enslaved people, we think we’re talking about that freedom. In this play, we’re talking about that freedom, but we’re talking about ALL freedom. Freedom for everyone to be themselves. Freedom for a person to be trans, gay, religious, Black or White. It’s about the pure freedom for every individual that lives in the country. So, it’s a perfect play for now. I’m just so proud to do this show with this particular cast, who understands how to walk that line between politics and humor. I hope audiences will come ready to laugh, ready to enjoy and that they will take that joy home, but then also intellectually think about what they can do personally to help make our schools and our communities and our country a more beautiful place. I love the live audience. That’s the last element of creation. When you go to the movies or watch tv, you are looking through a device. When you go to the theater, you are breathing in the same air as the performers. The separation between the art and the people viewing the art is minimal. Everyone is all together in the same room. I love hearing 100 people laugh together. I love hearing 1000 people applaud together. There’s nothing like when the artists can actually hear and feel the response from the people watching a play. I’m used to having a safe environment in rehearsal. We are in a room where everyone respects each other and if someone steps on someone else’s toes, that person admits that misstep and the other person’s job is to forgive and move on. In order to make the play feel safe to an audience, we have to make them realize that we’re creating an artistic event. For instance, at the start of our show, when the audience walks into the theater, there is a rack of clothes on the stage. When the play begins, we see one character after another come on and put on their costume, so the audience knows we’re playing characters. Nobody’s really Cap’n Cocthipee, Cap’n Cotchipee is a conglomeration of a lot of racist ideologies packed into one to create something that metaphorically represents the idea of racism. Missy is an iconic ﬁgure that represents the image of a “strong Black woman.” No one can be a strong Black woman all the time without recognizing that she has soft sides, rough sides, big sides, strong sides. Idella is the maternal character that has been taking care of everybody. Sometimes, those people who take care of everyone else forget about themselves. This play takes the stereotypical nature of diﬀerent types of people, and we exaggerate those to create characters. To make it feel safe to the audience, we give them a way in, by showing them that we are playing characters and that this is fable of a story that’s about the history of America. Ossie Davis is a brilliant writer. The music is in his language, the way that he arranges words, the rhythm of those words, and the tone of the whole piece. There are all diﬀerent types of humor. This play is close to Saturday Night Live in its broad comedic approach and exaggeration of ideas. As a director, my role is to make sure all of the actors are all in the same story. I make sure that everybody stands on a platform of realism and authenticity, but that is also heightened naturalism, so I get the actors to do 80% of what they would do in real life and then exaggerate 20% to make these characters. But everything is on the page. Ossie Davis has written a perfect score, and our job is to make sure that we say every word that he wrote. We can’t improvise words because then it changes the comedy. It’s about timing. Great comedy is always about timing. I grew up as a poor kid from Tallahassee, Florida. With an outhouse and no running water. The idea was that I might be a preacher someday, or a teacher. I ended up going to a historically Black college, and my major was political sciences. I was going to go into Law. I eventually ran into a group of artists including Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and Angela Bassett, who grew up in my same hometown. They introduced me to theater, and I just loved it. I left Law School after less than a year and IN HIS OWN WORDS: OSSIE DAVIS IN CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR KENNY LEONPhoto by Thomas E. Poag

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10 11started acting. I was acting for 5-6 years, and I was pretty successful, but then I had my ﬁrst opportunity to direct. It was a play call The Wishing Place. It was such a beautiful experience. I never felt anything like it, and I realized this is what I’m meant to do. The very next day I stopped acting. I left that company where I was working because the Artistic Director felt I didn’t have the skill set to direct. As soon as I left, I was approached by some folks from the National Endowment for the Arts to be a part of a directing fellow program and I’ve never turned back since. It was a spiritual intervention. Just do it! There is no “right” way to do it. If you are a writer, write every day. If you want to direct, just get two of your friends and read a scene together. Then invite one person to see it, and then two people. Then do it at your church. Then do it at your school. Just do it. Success will ﬁnd you!The ﬁrst responsibility is committing the words to memory. I hired a young woman who’d just graduated from my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, and we would meet once or twice a week on Zoom for about 45 minutes to an hour and run the scenes until I knew them. We did this for months and months. So, I was able to come into the rehearsal process with a fair amount of it already committed to memory. That’s important when you are dealing with language this dense and passages this musical and rhythmic. The same is true for the work of Lin Manuel Miranda and Shakespeare. I invoke these three writers together not by accident. There is a connection between them. I built the spine of Purlie, the spine of Aaron Burr, on the language that the author had given me. Then, I look for all the things that I have in common with the character. I make notes about all the ways in which we are similar, in order to bring them close to me and help me empathize with them. Once I feel like I understand them like a cousin or a dear friend, then I reach for those aspects that are harder for me to understand and explore the ways in which we are dissimilar. But now I’m doing it with an empathetic heart. The characters are all ﬂawed and ridiculous, but so are we.’The amount of language and making sense of the text… it’s athletic. Also, Purlie is the engine, the driving force of the story. I’ve never really been asked to play that role before. And with Purlie Victorious, I have the added responsibilities and blessing of being a producer on the production. Plus, I’m returning to New York as a dad with two little kids, so that adds quite a bit more responsibility to my schedule and my life. It’s a whole diﬀerent experience this time around. It’s harder, but it’s the challenge I wanted, so I’m trying to rise to the occasion.I care deeply about the theater. In a time where technology is almost in a race to force humanity to grow and adapt or become obsolete, there is something wonderfully analog about the theater. There is something wonderfully pure about it in its presentation. Sure, there have been technological advances of course in our lighting instruments and our sound capabilities, but other than that, it’s what they were doing 400 years ago. It’s what they were doing 2,000 years ago. We put on some costumes, and we stand on stage, and we make believe. And audiences suspect their disbelief, for an hour or two, and go with us in the pursuit of, I think, something holy. Something special. Catharsis. That spontaneous rush of emotion. In public! It’s a communal experience. Something we do all together. It is laughter. It is tears. It is laughter through tears. Those are magical experiences that we have in the theater, and there is something healing about that. That’s why I’m there. I’m learning a great deal from our lead producers Jeﬀrey Richards and Hunter Arnold about the business of producing. But the reason why I’m there - and why Nicolette, my wife is there - is because we believe in the power and the magic and the necessity for a healthy American Theater.IN CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR KENNY LEONLESLIE ODOM JR. ON PLAYING PURLIELESLIE ODOM JR. ON PLAYING PURLIEHamiltonGreat writing! The contours of it, the outline of it, and the substance of it was something that I’d never done before. The experience of Hamilton was, in so many ways, the ideal. I had to believe in a life after Hamilton and imagine what that might be. It was about ﬁnding new challenges, and this was the ﬁrst piece that came to mind. It sounded harder than what I’d just done, and I was right about that!The play was ﬁrst given to me in high school. It was a piece that I’d read, but it wasn’t something that I totally understood at the time. Plays have this rare niche in culture in that they are two things simultaneously. All of the greats — like Shakespeare, August Wilson, Moliere, Shaw, Tennessee Williams, Ossie Davis — they’ve created legitimate, unimpeachable works of great literature that stand on their own as stories you can read and at the same time, it is undeniable that they are meant to be seen, to be read aloud, to be experienced. You are not going to appreciate all the humor and grasp all the meaning and the depth by just reading them. You have to see them played. There was so much of Purlie Victorious that I missed in just reading it. At the Music Box, this tremendous piece of literature gets to come to life each night on stage. That is the way it was meant to be experienced. The truth is and always will be relevant. Shakespeare was writing about what it meant to be human, what it meant to fall in love, what it meant to lose love, what it meant to be young and to come of age while shouldering the expectations of parents… and those plays are still relevant 400 years later. This play about Mr. Davis’ childhood, growing up in the segregated South in America, is as relevant today as ever. It is my hope that the genius of Mr. Davis will connect to and inspire the genius of some of the students who will come to see this production. I hope that they will sit down and write about the truth of their own experiences. I hope that their stories might live and inspire for decades to come.Photo by Marc FranklinPhoto by Elias Williams for The New York Times

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12 13The play takes place on an old cotton Plantation that is going through a period of transition. It’s set in the late 1950s, but from the text, it feels like Purlie’s house is actually much older, perhaps from the 1920s or 30s—the depression era. There is no running water or electricity in the house. I tried to capture that in the design without having it be sentimental. It was important to me and our Director, Kenny Leon, that the design have a contemporary sensibility because the ideas in the play feel so modern. The architecture of the set is minimal and fairly unadorned. We needed a space that could be shared by the three locations described in the play — Purlie’s “shack”, the stock room of the commissary, and Big Bethel church, so we designed a surround that could shift with minor scenic changes. Every set must ﬁt in a particular space whether it’s on Broadway, oﬀ-Broadway or in some alternative type of space. That container is super important because each is very diﬀerent. Some spaces are very shallow. Some have no wing space. So, I start every design by getting a scale drawing of the stage, and then, in my studio, we build a scale model of an empty stage. That’s the starting point. Usually, we work in 1/4 inch scale, which means that 1/4 inch in a model or drawing equals one foot in real life. Another way to look at it is that the model is 1/48 the size of real life. Next, I make is a few models of the actors, because everything needs to relate to the size of the actors. I usually take a photograph of the empty model stage and then I start sketching. The drawings usually start out very rough and then over time, as ideas start to emerge, the drawings become more speciﬁc and more detailed. When I land on a design sketch that feels right, we build a scale model of the set and put it on the model stage. We usually do several versions of that, making adjustments each time. The process is a little bit of trial and error. When we’re ready, we invite the director to take a look and give comments. Once we’ve agreed on the design, my studio draws the set to scale. We produce drawings that are very much like an architect’s renderings for a house or building. That’s what we send to the carpenters in the shops so that they can build the set. I work very closely with Kathy, the Props Supervisor, to dress the set. In my sketches, I will lay out suggestions for the furniture and dressing and then Kathy usually takes those ideas and delivers even better. The tricky part is that everything has to ﬁt to the size of the set. Part of what the scale model that I make does is deﬁne how big the furniture wants to be. Together, we also looked at a lot of research of plantations in the 1940s and 50s—photographs of the commissaries and some of the plantation workers houses. It’s then about selecting the right details from them. We don’t put all the details on stage, just the ones that seem most salient and use them to create these little moments, little still lifes, within this wooden box.Our scenic design presented some challenges. One is that there is a full ceiling on the set. Often Broadway lighting design operates from above the stage, so Adam, our lighting designer doesn’t really have that option here. He does some of the lighting from the front, but I didn’t want it to feel ﬂat, so we created a theatrical lift in that the boards have little spaces between them—about a half inch of gap—so we can light through them. Adam does a beautiful job lighting through the spaces and giving another dimension of light from behind. There are also a lot of openings on stage—doors, archways, windows—which Adam can use to counteract the light from up front. I love the collaboration. I love working with directors. My favorite part is ﬁguring out what the world of the play is. As a set designer—because sets take longer to build than most other aspects of the production—I usually start earlier than most of the other designers on the show. Very often, it’s me working with the director, trying to ﬁgure out the physical manifestation of the play. A lot of times, designing the set also involves establishing the theatrical rules for the production. How real is it? How unreal is it? How theatrical is it? All those things start to get answered as you develop the physical design.The most important thing that aspiring designers need to do is learn how to draw. Because it’s really hard to design anything if you can’t draw it. Drawing becomes a way of thinking. All of my conversations with directors, with props people, involves sketching. Drawing is a way not only of communicating the ideas, but it’s also a way of developing the ideas for yourself. If you can imagine it, but you can’t draw it, it’s impossible to design it. When I read the script. I think the script is the holy grail. It’s the roadmap. It’s the guide. It’s what you go back to for references. For me, everything starts with the words.When I read the script, I take notes and look for costume directions. It’s mining for gold. Then the collaboration with the director begins. I don’t go into that conversation with any design ideas yet; I like to listen to what the director has in mind. At the end of the day, my job — and everyone on the creative team’s job — is not only to interpret the text, but also to support the Director’s vision. One of the reasons I love costume design so much is because it marries both of my loves: fashion and history. It is a lot easier now with google to research any time period that you want; before you had to go to the library and physically research. When it’s a revival, I try not to look at other productions. I try to keep myself away from other artists’ work, so I can come up with my own version, and the Director will guide me to where he wants us to be. Purlie Victorious is an interesting piece because it’s set on a plantation, but when you read the text, there are also more modern details, like sneakers. It also mentions Martin Luther King. So, it’s not really in the time-period of the Jim Crow South, but rather inspired by it. You have to think of those things prior to making the costumes. You can’t get to the stage of rehearsal and ﬁnd out that the actor can’t move. I know what the silhouette of the period is supposed to be, but how I get there is where the ingenuity and design comes in. You must make allowances. If you want to see beautiful and historically correct costumes, you go to a museum. Costumes need to move the way the actors move. You do that with the fabric selection and construction. You need to be smart and inventive about how you create shape but not restrict your actor. The one thing I love about theater is that there is no typical day in the life. Every day is diﬀerent. Every day brings its own challenges it’s just a matter of prioritizing. You may think, today we’re going to do shoes, but the director says he wants coats in the rehearsal room the next day. So, you have to be able to shift. You have to be able to multitask. Usually, I’m designing for three or four shows at the same time, so I have to be organized. My path was not linear. I never ever dreamt of having the career that I have now. It is a blessing. I always say that theater chose me; I didn’t choose theater. I got into costumes by chance as a fashion design major at Pratt here in New York City. I had a teacher who taught a History of Fashion course that was a requirement for all design students. One day, she made an announcement that a costume shop was looking for a shopper. A shopper in the costume world is someone that literally shops for thread, fabric, shoes, shirts whatever needs to be purchased. For the ﬁrst two years that I was in school, theater was just a side job. It was not something I was planning to have a career in, but I was fortunate and another friend who was a costume designer recommended me for to a dance company and I took a job as Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor and I toured for two years taking care of the costumes. That is when I fell in love with the art of costume design, theater, and touring. There is a path to having a career in theater if you choose it. You just have to be resourceful and to say yes to any opportunity. You have to work hard and love it. This is one of those industries that if you don’t love it, you won’t be successful, because it can take a while to establish yourselves and you need that love to carry you through.DESIGNING FOR THE STAGE: SCENIC DESIGNER DEREK MCLANEDESIGNING FOR THE STAGE: COSTUME DESIGNER EMILIO SOSA

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14 15The lighting designer is like the cinematographer of the stage. We help the audience know where to look and how to feel when they are looking. Lighting designers are responsible for what we see and what we don’t see. Do we have access to what’s on stage? How much access? From an emotional standpoint, lighting design is also like the scoring of a ﬁlm, adding all these minute nuances that evoke feelings from the audience. Scenery creates the environment and then we put the atmosphere and energy on top of that. Is it a dark, seedy room? Is it a bright happy day? Is there a creepy door with the light coming through it? In the sense of Purlie Victorious, it’s a mid 1940s farmhouse in the middle of the countryside. There was no electricity at that time, so it’s all natural bounds through a window. For all projects, the job starts with the script and the director, determining how we want to tell that story and what is the energy of the atmosphere. What I love about lighting design is that it’s an invisible medium. You cannot see it until it hits a source — may that be haze or a piece of scenery or an actor. Wrapping your brain around what that emotionally feels like is very multi-dimensional. People who make good lighting designers see the world from multiple angles and in multiple ways. They might be able to look at something that is two dimensional and envision what that looks like in a third dimension. I remember as a kid my parents made fun of me, because — and even to this day - every time I’m somewhere, I’m always looking up at the sky. I’m looking at the tops of the buildings or the rafters in the room, thinking about how these ceilings and these upper levels interact with the lower human-levels and that’s what lighting design does. We think about everything from the top down. First and foremost, I learned a lot when I was younger through play. I joined my theater club in middle school. We used to do shows on the stage in our “cafetorium” with the ﬂorescent lights on. One day I said, “what if we rented a spotlight? What if we used these old burnt our Fresnel lights that are in the ceiling?” Through play, I ﬁgured out how a basic light interacts with a human and a wall. In high school, I took a technical theater class, that was very rudimentary. It taught me what is theater and how the technical elements interact with the story. I was planning to go to college for Broadcast journalism, and my high school theater director said, “no, no, no, no, you should be going for design.” I didn’t even know what that meant. He handed me a copy of Julie Taymor’s The Lion King coﬀee book that includes all the renderings of the costumes and masks as well as a light plot, and I realized that this is what I wanted to do. So, I switched gears and applied to several universities to study design. I went to the University of Oklahoma with a triple emphasis on scenery, costumes and lighting and trained in all three. It wasn’t until my senior year that I focused on lighting design. When I moved to the city, I tried everything. I called up people all the time and lots of people didn’t respond, because designers are busy, but for the handful that did, I would just show up to their tech rehearsals and watch. There were a couple of internship programs that I participated in — one at Williamstown theater Festival, which was a big one for me. I met a lot of great Broadway designers through that program, who oﬀered to let me shadow them. That was probably the most important — ﬁnding mentors in my life. Just do it. It seems intimidating. There will be invitations and oﬀers that come your way that are often going to feel much larger and greater than you and the best thing is to accept it and learn by doing. Also, ﬁnd a good mentor that will take you in and show you the ropes and teach you. The biggest take away that I can give to the youth is no one wants you to fail. We all want you to be here. I think theater is one of the most loving and nourishing communities in the world. We want to help you. If you need help, just ask for help. If you don’t know the answer, say you don’t know the answer. We want you to succeed. Also, there are so many opportunities - beyond design — to work on the technical side of theater. Local One union technicians on Broadway — like Spot Operators for example — earn six-ﬁgures salaries with beneﬁts. It is an amazing opportunity. It really is possible. It may seem daunting at ﬁrst, but there is money to be made on the technical end. It is a very lucrative industry. Our layer of any production—play, musical, tv, ﬁlm —is to provide a complete package to include all the of hand-held items, all the set decoration and usually, in most cases, the furniture. We work closely with the scenic designer to layer the environment with dressing and decoration. We are also responsible for what is in each of the actor’s hands, what each of object means to the play, how it’s used, whether it’s safe, how it integrates into the overall design. Propping entails quite a bit of research into the particular period in which the play takes place.The ﬁrst thing I do is read the play. Then I need to understand the time and place, which I ﬁnd through pictorial research. For the most part, we have everything at our ﬁngertips on google. With Purlie Victorious, we’re talking about plantation life in Georgia, during the 1950s when the Jim Crow laws were in eﬀect, so I need to understand everything from the climate to the types of items these folks have access to. Their economic and social background, religion. Everything about the character. We listen closely to the Director’s vision for this play and what the story is about. The research we do about time and place is so that we can choose the correct props and fabrics and furniture. What kind of wood is most authentic? Would the subjects of the paintings on the wall be a Northern snowy-scape or would it be a ﬁeld landscape with bales of hay in a hot blazing sun? We ask questions about every single object and those drive our decisions.There are many ways we choose the best place to acquire props. For most period items, the online auction sites like Ebay, Etsy, First Dibs are the best resource. When you are doing a contemporary musical and you need 16 of any one given item as a dance prop for the ensemble, the fastest and most aﬀordable way to get those items is to order from Amazon and Wayfair. One of the biggest diﬀerences between doing this kind of purchasing and purchasing as an Interior Decorator is that you have a deadline—sometimes only two or four weeks. We don’t have the luxury of time. When we are sourcing items that are diﬃcult to purchase because they are so speciﬁc, we have those items constructed from a shop that does custom work. Another way of sourcing is renting. There are particular rental houses that are “go-to” for theater, but that can get expensive for shows running longer than six weeks. Step one is breaking down the entire props list from the large units and the furniture, the set dressing, any on stage lighting pieces like lamps, sconces and chandeliers, and the hand props including food and nightly perishables. We break them down into categories on a big to do list which everyone on my team has access to, and then everyone specializes in a diﬀerent area. One person oversees handcrafted items, another does all the online vintage auction ordering, another shops on foot in Pennsylvania or upstate New York at vintage ﬂea markets and antique stores. Some plays have a life after Broadway, so those props get put into storage so that they can be used for a later tour, a production abroad or at a regional playhouse. That’s always joyful because we hate to see things thrown away. When our version of the show is not going to have a further life, we sometimes resell or donate to places like Materials for the Arts, which is a not-for-proﬁt that collects unused materials and makes them available to lower budget projects or Building Green that will re-sell props to ﬁlm. There is a big eﬀort in our industry to ﬁgure out how to recycle and limit what is thrown away.My team ebbs and ﬂows. I have about 5 people on full time staﬀ but then I also have a lot of contract workers—extra props assistants who handle rehearsals, people who do shopping, crafting, van driving, deliveries, loading rehearsal halls in and out. And sometimes we hire people with special skills like photoshop, upholsters, drapery makers. To be a Props Supervisor, you don’t have to be an expert at all these skills, but you need be an expert at ﬁnding the right people with these skills. This job is never boring, especially if you are a person who is curious, not afraid to ask questions, interested in both visual and performing arts mediums, and excited to try lots of diﬀerent things.DESIGNING FOR THE STAGE: LIGHTING DESIGNER ADAM HONOREDESIGNING FOR THE STAGE: PROPS SUPERVISOR KATHY FABIANPhoto by Marc FranklinPhoto by Marc Franklin

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16 17TO FULLY APPRECIATE THE HUMOR IN PURLIE VICTORIOUSAND HIS SOCIAL COMMENTARY ON THE AMERICAN SOUTH, ONE MUST UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN WHICH THE PLAY WAS CREATED. PURLIE VICTORIOUS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXTPURLIE VICTORIOUS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXTALMOST 100 YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, THE UNITED STATES WAS STILL DEEPLY DIVIDED AND PLAGUED BY RACIAL SEGREGATION.SEPTEMBER 22, 1862APRIL 9, 1865JUNE 19, 1865DECEMBER 6, 18651866JULY 9, 1868FEBRUARY 3, 1870FEBRUARY 1877MAY 18, 1896AUGUST 28, 1955SEPTEMBER 1957MAY 4 – DECEMBER 10, 1961MARCH 1, 1875OCTOBER 15, 1883MAY 17, 1954DECEMBER 1955MAY 6, 1960      Photo courtesy of New York Public LibraryGeorge Edward Calmer Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James Nabrit in 1953 conferring during Brown CasePhoto courtesy of Library of Congress“The shackle broken - by the genius of freedom.” Courtesy of Library of Congress. Courtesy of Library of CongressRosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King (circa 1955). Courtesy of Ebony MagazineWilliam Rogers and Lawrence Walsh witness DDE singing the Civil Rights BillCourtesy of U.S. National Park ServiceFreedom Riders watch as bus burns just outside of Anniston, Alabama. Courtesy of the US National Parks Service

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18 19WITH EACH NEW LAW ENACTED AND EVERY STEP TOWARDS RACIAL PROGRESS, BARRIERS WERE CONTINUALLY PUT INTO PLACE TO RESTRICT THE ADVANCEMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE UNITED STATES.When slavery was abolished at the end of the Civil War, southern states created black codes, laws which aimed to keep white supremacy in place. Black codes attempted to economically disable freed slaves, forcing African Americans to continue to work on plantations and to remain subject to racial, social and economic hierarchies within the southern society. Black code laws varied from state to state, but all were designed to restrict the civic participation of freed people; the codes deprived them of the right to vote, the right to serve on juries, the right to own or carry weapons, and, in some cases, even the right to rent or lease land.At the end of the Civil War, former slaves needed jobs, and plantation owners needed laborers to work their land. A new hierarchical system was born, sharecropping.Sharecropping is a farming system, where a landlord allows a tenant to plant and harvest his land in exchange for a share of the crop. In the South, after the Civil War, many black Americans, though free continued to live in rural poverty. Given their economic circumstances and lack of education, which was denied to them during slavery, many ex-slaves were forced to rent land from former white slave owners. There, they continued to raise cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and rice. In many cases, the landlords or nearby merchants would lease equipment to the sharecroppers, providing them with seed, fertilizer, food, and other necessities on credit until the harvest season. High interest rates, unpredictable harvests, and corrupt practices of landlords and merchants often kept sharecropping families severely indebted. Laws favoring landowners made it diﬃcult or even illegal for sharecroppers to sell their crops to others besides their landlord, or prevented sharecroppers from moving if they were indebted to their landlord. The system severely restricted the economic mobility of black laborers.Furthermore, the Black Codes often required black sharecroppers to sign annual labor contracts with white landowners. If they attempted to violate or evade these contracts, they could be ﬁned, beaten, or arrested. Upon arrest, many “free” African Americans were made to work for no wages, essentially being reduced to the very deﬁnition of a slave. In addition, through “apprenticeship” laws, many young African American orphans were bound to white plantation owners who would then force them to work. Although slavery had been outlawed by the 13th Amendment, it eﬀectively continued in practice in many southern states. Black Codes were just the beginning of what were known as Jim Crow laws, a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Named after a Black Minstrel show character, the laws—which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faced arrest, ﬁnes, jail sentences, violence, and death.In the 1880s, as freed Blacks began moving to the cities, Jim Crow laws expanded. The laws aﬀected almost every aspect of daily life, mandating segregation of schools, parks, hospitals, libraries, drinking fountains, restrooms, buses, trains, building entrances, theaters, restaurants and more. “Whites Only” and “Colored” signs were constant reminders of the enforced racial order. African Americans were not allowed to live in white neighborhoods. These laws lasted for decades. Following the ratiﬁcation in 1870 of the 15th Amendment, which barred states from depriving citizens the right to vote based on race, southern states began voter suppression tactics such as poll taxes, literacy tests, all-white primaries, felony disenfranchisement laws, grandfather clauses, fraud, and intimidation to keep African Americans from the polls. The Supreme Court upheld many of these tactics until Voting Rights Act of 1965.The “Little Rock Nine” refers to the nine Black students who volunteered to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School as a test case for desegregation in the South following the ruling of Brown vs. the Board of Education. As in most of the Southern states, the idea of integration was met with much bitterness and opposition. On September 3, 1957, three years after the historical ruling, the nine students arrived at Central High School, where they were met by a threatening white mob as well as the state’s National Guard, who had been deployed by Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, to block their entrance on the pretense of their safety.Two weeks later, a federal judge ordered the National Guard removed. On September 23, the Little Rock Nine tried again to enter the school escorted by the local police, but again, they were met by an angry mob. School oﬃcial, fearing for the lives of the nine students, once again sent them home. Finally, on September 25, 1957, following a plea from Little Rock’s mayor Woodrow Mann, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and sent US Army troops to Little Rock. Guarded by the soldiers, the Little Rock Nine began regular class attendance at Central High.Voters at the voting booths in 1945. Courtesy of Library of CongressSoldiers from the 101st Airborne Division escort African-American students to Central High School in Little Rock in Sept. 1957. Photo courtesy National Archives. Operation ArkansasVideo with Little Rock Nine member Terrence Roberts Courtesy of Facing HistoryVideo on the Failure of the Reconstruction Era Courtesy of Kahn AcademyWATC HPicking Cotton, 1880. Courtesy of the New York Public LibrarySegregated drinking fountain. Photo credit: Tullio SabaBLOCKING PROGRESSBLOCKING PROGRESS

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20 21BEYOND OFFERING RELIGIOUS SPIRITUALITY, CHURCHES HAVE LONG BEEN A PLACE OF GATHERING, SAFETY, JOY AND RESILIENCE FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY. They have been a source of strength and liberation. It is no surprise therefore that Purlie is so eager to reclaim Big Bethel and that he ﬁnds its ownership key to freedom for the cotton pickers working for Ol’ Cap’n.Here are a few of the churches that have played a signiﬁcant role in the Civil Rights Movement:Ebenezer Baptist Church (Atlanta, Georgia) The spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this church played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. Dr. King served as co-pastor and delivered some of his most famous speeches there.Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (Montgomery, Alabama) This was another church associated with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where he began his pastoral ministry and helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955.Bethel AME Church (Boston, Mass.) This historic church was a center for abolitionist and civil rights activities in the North during the 19th and 20th centuries.Clayborn Temple (Memphis, Tennessee) This church served as a rallying point during the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike in 1968, which brought attention to labor rights and economic justice.16th Street Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama) This church was the site of a tragic bombing in 1963 that killed four young African American girls. The event garnered national attention and galvanized support for the civil rights cause.Riverside Church (New York City) Known for its commitment to social justice, Riverside Church hosted inﬂuential civil rights leaders and activities, including Dr. King’s famous “Beyond Vietnam” speech in 1967.Brown Chapel AME Church (Selma, Alabama) This church was a starting point for the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, a key turning point in the civil rights movement that led to the Voting Rights Act.Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Baltimore, Maryland) This church, founded in 1785, has a long history of advocating for civil rights and social justice.Zion Baptist Church (Cincinnati, Ohio) Led by Rev. L. Venchael Booth, this church was actively involved in the civil rights movement in Cincinnati.THE ROLE OF BLACK CHURCHES THE ROLE OF BLACK CHURCHES16th Street Baptist Church Interior after BombingCourtesy of Tom Self, Birmingham NewsShiloh Baptist Church (Washington, D.C.) This historic church was involved in civil rights activism, including supporting the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.Highland Park First Baptist Church (Landover, Maryland) This church hosted civil rights leaders and events during the movement, including the Poor People’s Campaign.Many churches in Harlem have also had a long history of involvement in civil rights activism - advocating for social justice and racial equality, hosting meetings for community organizing and providing a platform for vital community conversations.• Abyssinian Baptist Church• Convent Avenue Baptist Church• Salem United Methodist Church • Mother AME Zion Church• St. Philip’s Episcopal Church Civil Rights March on Washington, DC, 1963Courtesy of National Archives at College ParkPhoto by Marc FranklinEbenezer Baptist Church, View from BalconyCourtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs DivisionSelma to Montgomery Marches, 1965. Courtesy of Library of Congress

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22 23– CHARLIE CHAPLIN– FLIP WILSON– RED FOXX– BERT WILLIAMS– STAN LAUREL– ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER– NIPSEY RUSSELL– MOMS MABLEY– DICK GREGORY– OLIVER HARDYLAUGHING THROUGH THE PAINLISTEN: Another of the comedians Ossie Davis admired was Pigmeat Markham, who is credited as being the ﬁrst rapper, with his piece “Here Comes the Judge.”OSSIE DAVIS OFTEN SAID THAT HE WAS “BORN TO LAUGH” AND HE BROUGHT THIS ENERGY TO HIS ART. He was inﬂuenced by many comedians throughout his lifetime including those represented on these pages. Many of these comics revolutionized the entertainment business and comedy as an artform, by introducing new styles and breaking barriers in the industry. All chose to ﬁnd the funny in the world around them, even when it was ﬁlled with pain.RESEARCH & WRITE: How is laughter used as a tool against oppression? Choose one of the comedians below — or another you admire. Research their life history and catalog of work. How did they use their craft to comment on the society around them and alleviate pain? In what way were they trailblazers in the industry?

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24 25THE FOOLS OF CHELMThe Fools of Chelm were a great source of inspiration to Ossie Davis. In fact, he wrote Purlie Victorious while stage managing the Broadway production The World of Sholom Aleichem, a play composed of three stories about the foolish Chelmites, starring his wife Ruby Dee as the Defending Angel. Davis credits that play as one of the key inﬂuences that steered him towards a satirical approach for Purlie Victorious as opposed to a straight drama. The fools of Chelm reminded him of comedic icons from his own heritage — Bre’r Rabbit and High John the Conqueror, the “patron saints of black folk wit and humor.” Chelm is an actual city in Poland, but in Eastern European Yiddish folklore, it is also an imaginary town of fools, who believe that they are wise. In some stories, they are ironically referred to as “The Wise Men of Chelm.” In a typical Chelm story, the people are faced with a challenge, which they resolve with the most ridiculous, unintelligent solution imaginable. Hundreds of hilarious folk tales have been written about their extraordinary naivete, silliness and stupidity.The stories date back centuries and seem to have their origin in a collection of German comic stories called the Schildburg Tales, published in 1597. For generations the Schidburg Tales, which centered around Christian characters, were enjoyed by both Jews and non-Jews. In 1700, they were translated into Yiddish. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that the characters appeared as Jewish and location was changed to Chelm, which represented a “typical” Jewish town. Most of the Jews who lived in the real town of Chelm perished during the holocaust in WWII, but the ﬁctional stories of Chelm live on, and throughout the decades, several Jewish writers have used them a model for satirical stories that highlight a variety of societal problems.The fools of Chelm reminded Ossie Davis of Bre’r Rabbit, a central character in African folklore, which was brought to the New World by African slaves and passed generation to generations through the tradition of oral storytelling. Bre’r Rabbit is a trickster, who succeed by his wit rather than his brawn, outsmarting larger, more powerful animals.READ/RESEARCH: Study these three Chelm stories by Isaac Beshivis Singer or explore other tales about the Fools of Chelm. WRITE: With a partner or in small groups, create your own Chelm-like folktale. Before you put pen to paper, brainstorm your ideas. Remember, these stories are meant to be a mockery. Where will you set your story? Who are the characters? What is the dilemma? What crazy schemes do the characters come up with to solve the problem? How does It all resolve? What are the lessons learned? PERFORM: Put your story up on its feet. How will you physically inhabit these characters? How do they talk? How will you infuse humor into your scene?EXPLORING THE MANY FACES OF HUMORThere are many types of humor at play in Purlie Victorious. Some are easier to identify, and others are more nuanced and sophisticated. slap-stick |noun. comedy based on deliberately clumsy actions and humorously embarrassing eventsWATCH: Charlie Chaplin was one of the great masters of slapstick comedy. Enjoy this Video clip of the factory scene of Modern Times, 1936.word-play | noun. playful use of words: verbal witWATCH: Puns, double entendres, phonetic mix-ups and “dad jokes” are all types of wordplay. For a great example of wordplay, watch this video clip of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine.farce | noun. a comic dramatic work using buﬀoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situationsWhile farce dates to ancient Greece and Rome, it was in 15th-century Medieval France that the term farce was first used to describe the elements of clowning, acrobatics, caricature, and indecency found together within a single form of entertainment. These techniques first appeared as impromptu bits of buffoonery inserted by actors into the texts of religious plays — thus the use of the Old French word farce, which means “stuffing.” Farce often includes physical as well as verbal humor. Some more modern examples of Farce include The Play that Goes Wrong, Noises Oﬀ, and Monty Python.WATCH: Watch The Three Stooges ice ﬁshing or bunk bed clips, in which Curly, Larry and Mo incorporate elements of farce, slapstick, and vaudevillian comedy. satire | noun. 1. the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. 2. A play, novel, film or other work which uses satire.Satire is a form of social commentary. Writers and artists use exaggeration, irony, and other devices to poke fun at and criticize political leaders, societal customs, and belief systems. Satire is often designed to challenge those in power and drive social change.Satire in literature and drama can be found across the millennia, dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, highlighting the social and political issues of the times. Contemporary satirists have used their craft to comment on everything from capitalism and communism to sexism and race. There are three notable forms of satire:Horatian. Horatian satire is comic and oﬀers light social commentary. It is less sharp and cruel, more of a clever, gentle mockery, meant to poke fun at a person or situation in an entertaining and playful way. (example: Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels, Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Ernest, or Greta Gerwig’s recent ﬁlm Barbie).Juvenalian. Juvenalian satire is darker, sharper, and more direct. It often targets social conventions and mindsets. It commonly expresses anger and resentment and is meant to speak truth to power (example George Orwell’s 1945 novel Animal Farm, the modern-day television show South Park or Jordan Peel’s ﬁlm Get Out)Menippean. Menippean satire casts moral judgment on a particular belief. It focuses less on social conventions and more on the attitudes of people, attacking particular types such as “pedants, bigots, cranks, parvenus, virtuosi, enthusiasts, rapacious and incompetent professional men of all kinds.” (Northrop Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism) It can be comic and light, much like Horatian satire—although it can also be as stinging as Juvenalian satire (Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland or many of the political skits on Saturday Night Live).Some of the literary devices and technique used to create satire include:• Hyperbole over exaggerates statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.• Irony creates or highlights a situation that was meant to have a particular eﬀect, when in actuality it has the opposite eﬀect. • Caricature selects and highlights speciﬁc features to make a person look ridiculous.• Paradox shows a situation or event with two opposing aspects that contradict one another.• Allegory creates a ﬁctional narrative that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.The eﬀects of satire on the psyche:• Satire often challenges established norms and beliefs, encouraging individuals to think critically about the world around them. It prompts people to question authority, societal structures, and accepted ideas, which can lead to a more nuanced understanding of complex issues. • Satire can provide a healthy outlet for frustration or dissatisfaction with certain aspects of society. By laughing at absurd or frustrating situations, individuals may experience a sense of catharsis and emotional release, reducing feelings of stress or helplessness.• Satire can empower individuals by oﬀering a way to express dissent or criticism, hopefully in a way that will lead to action. • Sharing a laugh over satirical content can foster a sense of camaraderie and connection among individuals who share similar perspectives. This can create a feeling of belonging to a community that understands and appreciates the same satirical viewpoints.• Satire often highlights the absurdities and contradictions present in society, shedding light on issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. By drawing attention to these issues, satire can increase awareness and provoke conversations about topics that deserve attention.• While satire aims to be humorous, it can also evoke discomfort or oﬀense.LAUGHING THROUGH THE PAIN LAUGHING THROUGH THE PAINVaudevilleElements of vaudevillian humor are also present in Purlie Victorious. Vaudeville which rose to popularity in the 1890s was a form of light entertainment that comprised of a series of unrelated acts featuring singers, dancers, comedians, magician, acrobats, trained animals, jugglers, and the like. These variety shows were more accessible to a wider audience than more traditional forms of theater not only for their aﬀordability, but also for the mass appeal and easy comprehension of their content. Many of today's late night television shows as well as America’s Got Talent are descendents of Vaudeville.

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26 27HISTORY OF BLACK SATIRE IN THE UNITED STATESIn the 19th century, white racial animosity grew following Emancipation when Antebellum stereotypes collided with actual African Americans and their demands for full citizenship including the right to vote.Racial backlash manifested on stage in Minstrel shows, which were ﬁrst performed in the 1830s by white actors in blackface - using burnt cork or shoe polish - who imitated and mimicked enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. This cruel form of satire, characterized blacks as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice. Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice, developed the ﬁrst popularly known blackface character, “Jim Crow,” after whom the discriminatory laws in the South were named. Other blackface characters such as Zip Coon — ﬁrst performed by George Dixon in 1834 - made a mockery of free blacks. An arrogant, ostentatious ﬁgure, he dressed in high style and spoke in a series of malaprops and puns that undermined his attempts to appear digniﬁed. The prominence of blackface continued into the 20th century, migrating from stage to screen. In 1915, G.W Griﬃth’s silent ﬁlm Birth of a Nation was released, perpetuating racist stereotypes by portraying black characters (played by whites in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive, while portraying the Klu Klux Klan as the heroic force preserving American values. The ﬁlm stoked fear and prejudice, which created a justiﬁcation systemic racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.Black artists were eager to contradict the racist stereotypes put forth in Birth of a Nation, uplift the image of African Americans, and reclaim Black Humanity through the portrayal of joy, spirituality and resilience. A new genre of race ﬁlms emerged - ﬁlms produced by black ﬁlmmakers for black audiences featuring black cases. Between about 1915 and the early 1950s, approximately ﬁve hundred race ﬁlms were produced. Of these, fewer than one hundred remain. Because they were produced outside the Hollywood studio system, race ﬁlms were largely forgotten by mainstream ﬁlm historians until they resurfaced in the 1980s. Some modern day Black artists have reclaimed the use of stereotypes for satire, to ﬂip the narrative as an act of deﬁance. Childish Gambino’s music video “This is America (2018) is one such example.GROUP EXERCISE: Divide the class up into small groups and have them explore some modern-day examples of satire. Saturday Night Live clips provide an excellent resource. Consider using some of the short SNL “commercials” below. [Please preview in advance to determine the appropriateness for your classroom.]• Pepsi Commercial - SNL• 39 Cent - SNL• Amazon Echo - SNL• Guns - SNL• Levi’s Woke - SNL• Covid-19 - SNL• Handsfree selﬁe stick - SNLAsk your students to consider the following:• Who or what is being mocked in these commercials?• What is the social/political commentary that these commercials are making?• Why is satire such an eﬀective tool for social and political commentary?• Why is it important to be able to recognize satire?CREATE: Staying in small groups, ask your students to create their own SNL inspired satirical commercial. What social or political issue do they wish to critique? What situation and characters will they develop to achieve their goal? VISUAL SATIRE: For over 200 hundred years, political cartoons have been used to support, attack, caricature and comment on the most pressing political and social issues of the day. For students who are more drawn to the visual arts, have them research some historical political cartoons using this link to the Library of Congress website and compare with some modern-day cartoons from The New Yorker. Who/what is the target of the cartoon? What is the social/political commentary each cartoon is making? Once they are inspired, ask them to create their own satirical cartoon. AN EXPLORATION OF THEMES, CHARACTERS, AND PERFORMANCEDISCUSS OR WRITE: Use the following prompts to spur dialogue with and/or written responses from your students about the play, its themes and their experience at the performance.What did you think of the opening of the play? How did it invite you into the story and what did it signal to you about what to expect?Purlie Victorious premiered on Broadway in 1961. What aspects of the play continue to resonate today? What elements of the production support this contemporary resonance?Ossie Davis was criticized for his use of humor in Purlie Victorious. Read “In his Own Words” to learn more. Do you think his use of humor is an eﬀective tool to make a social commentary on race in our country? Why or why not? Support your opinion citing speciﬁc examples from the play.As a literary technique to strengthen the social commentary of his satire, Ossie Davis portrays most of his characters as exaggerated archetypes. Choose one of the characters below. Discuss how Ossie Davis’ hyperbolic depiction highlights their absurdity to subvert stereotypes and create comic eﬀect. Consider some of the following quotes. What do they reveal about the characters and their social circumstances?PURLIE - combination of Hero/Trickster/Outlaw - the driving force of the story, his goal is to challenge the status quo and liberate the cotton patch workers, but he does so through a bit of deception and cunning.• “Some of the best pretending in the world is done in front of white folks.”• “If it’s one thing I am foolproof in it’s white folks’ psychology.”• “All these wings and they still won’t let me ﬂy!”LUTTIBELLE - combination of Ingenue/Jezebel - lacks goals for herself but rather assumes those of her love interest, comes last in the hierarchy of power and is often dismissed. The way in which she is portrayed and others perceive her also underscores the way in which Black women have been oversexualized throughout history.• “Reb’n Purlie, I’m a good girl. I ain’t done nothing in all this world, white, colored or otherwise, to hurt nobody!”• “Oh, I’m a great one for race pride, sir, believe me - it’s just that I don’t need it much in my line of work! Miss Emmylou sez….”• “Talking big is easy — from the proper distance.”MISSY - is portrayed as Mammy - a strong Black woman who works for a white family and nurses white children. Typically visualized as a heavier, dark skinned, maternal caregiver: amiable, loyal, non-threatening, obedient, submissive, demonstrates deference to white authority, sassy, clean and kept, illiterate but street smart. The character comes from the role of the Black woman during slavery who is tasked with these domestic chores and was created to depict Black women as happy within these roles of servitude, despite its contradiction to other historically accurate accounts of enslaved women fearing for their lives at the hands of abusive masters. This stereotype is still relevant today and is the reason why for example, Aunt Jemima’s recently changed its brand to the Pearl Milling Company due to pushback in 2020.• “Oh, child, being colored can be a lotta fun when ain’t nobody looking.”• “Freedom—and a little something left over— that’s all I ever wanted all my life.” OL’ CAP”N - racist Villain - “Great White Father of the Year” - he is the very embodiment of bigotry and white supremacy• In response to Charlie standing up for the cotton patch workers: “You are tampering with the economic foundation of the southland! “Are you trying to ruin me? One more word like that and I’ll kill you.”• “My ol’ Confederate father told me on his deathbed: feed the Negras ﬁrst - after the horses and cattle - and I’ve done it each time!”GITLOW - portrayed as Uncle Tom/Uncle Remus - depicted as “good,” loyal, religious, a faithful and submissive former slave.• “You the boss, boss.• “The ﬁner they come, the braver they be, the deader these white folks gonna kill ‘em when they catch ‘em.”• “That man’s got the president, the governor, the courthouse, and both houses of the congress — on his side! The army, the navy, the marines, the sheriﬀ, the judge, and the hungriest dogs this side of hell! Surely you all don’t expect that po’boy to go up against all that caucasiatic power empty handed!”LAUGHING THROUGH THE PAIN DIGESTING THE PLAY POST-ATTENDANCEPhoto by Marc FranklinThomas Dartmouth Rice as Jim CrowCourtesy of University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne University Library

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28 29• What is the role of Charlie in the story? Why do you think Ossie Davis chose Charlie as the one to save the church? Do you see Charlie Cotchipee as an ally or as a white savior? Why? How has his relationship with Idella shaped him? Consider the year in which the play was written vs. now in its revival over six decades later• What is the role of the women in the play? How do they exert their strength and power? Consider Missy and Idella speciﬁcally. How do they inﬂuence the men in their lives?• Consider the power dynamic between Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee and Gitlow. Ol’ Cap’n refers to Gitlow as kin: “I told him how you and me growed up together. Had the same mammy - my mammy was your mother.” Throughout their ﬁrst scene together Ol’ Cap’n turns to Gitlow for comfort and validation. How does Gitlow respond? What does it reveal about their power dynamic?• When Ol’ Cap’n collapses in distress, he asks Gitlow to sing him “a few passels…of that ol’ spiritual” (“Old Black Joe”) which eases his pain. Why does a song about death and sadness bring comfort to Ol’ Cap’n? Study the lyrics below and discuss.LIBERATION THROUGH THE RECLAMATION OF BLACK JOYPurlie’s primary mission throughout the play is the quest for freedom and the celebration of Black joy, beauty and culture. Consider the following:What role does love and appreciation have in validating our identities?How can one’s body be a “native land?”What role does the African imagery have in Purlie’s description of Lutibelle? How does his use of this language draw in his audience? How does this contrast with Ol' Cap’n Cotchipees racial epithets such as “Darky” and “Negra?” Discuss the power of language to uplift and oppress.After Purlie is called out for his elaborate - and what we later learn to be ﬁctitious - account of his vengeance on Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee, he responds:What is the signiﬁcance of his response?DIGESTING THE PLAY POST-ATTENDANCEDIGESTING THE PLAY POST-ATTENDANCEPhoto by Marc Franklin

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30 31A DRAMATIC EPILOGUE IS USUALLY A SHORT SPEECH GIVEN BY A NARRATOR CHARACTER, ADDRESSING THE AUDIENCE DIRECTLY, AT THE END OF A PLAY. It usually brings closure to the play, wraps up loose ends, reports on any unresolved fates of the characters, comments on the events that have unfolded and sometimes charges the audience with action.Through Purlie’s sermon in the epilogue of the play, Ossie Davis calls on us to come together as a community — to celebrate our diﬀerences:DISCUSS: What does freedom mean to you? What are the diﬀerent forms of freedom? How can we celebrate each other’s diﬀerences? Where is our country today and where do we need to go? Civic engagement is taking responsibility for improving your community and taking action to address social issues or public concerns. Action can be taken as an individual or in groups with people who share similar values and a desire to make change in their community. Civic engagement can take many forms:• Starting a conversation (in-person or on social media) • Learning about other perspectives• Volunteering your time• Advocating for a cause• Marching in protest• Voting and encouraging others to vote• Mobilizing and leading others into actionACT: What issues are important to you? What steps can you take to make change at your school, in your community, in our country?EPILOGUE: MAKE CIVIL RIGHTS FROM CIVIL WRONGS– MARGARET MEAD– HARRIET TUBMAN

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32 33Premis: “Release: Revolutionary Laughter and the Power Humor as a Tool of Emancipation” is National Black Theatre’s Epilogue to the 2023 Broadway revival of Purlie Victorious curriculum. In this epilogue we explore the physical and psychological release of laughter as a healing mechanism, as well as look at the profound signiﬁcance of humor in the ongoing struggle for emancipation and social justice and the pivotal role of humor in the African American experience. Revealing how it has been employed as a powerful means of survival and liberation throughout history, as we delve into the power of humor and the multifaceted ways African Americans have harnessed it, from subversive satire to communal resilience, in our enduring quest for freedom and equality. It is our intention, mirroring Ossie Davis’ literary blueprint, to oﬀer an epilogue that helps to deepen and create urgency around the subjects covered in the curriculum; to oﬀer a contemporary lens that helps to shed a light on Ossie Davis’s masterpiece by illuminating the revolutionary power of laughter as a force for change.RELEASE: REVOLUTIONARY LAUGHTERRELEASE: REVOLUTIONARY LAUGHTERre· leaseverb. 1. to set free from restraint, conﬁnement, or servitude. 2. to relieve from something that conﬁnes, burdens, or oppressesrev·o.lu·tion·aryadjective. 1. involving or causing a complete or dramatic change 2. engaged in or promoting political revolutione·man·ci·pa·tionnoun. 1. the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation

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34 35RELEASE: REVOLUTIONARY LAUGHTERRELEASE: REVOLUTIONARY LAUGHTERThere is an alchemy inherent in Black folx’s humor, a way of transforming our gut-wrenching experiences into something digestible that we can stomach and survive. Finding humor in fraught topics isn’t anything new for our people. It’s a method of coping that stems back to when the ﬁrst enslaved Africans were brought to the shores of Point Comfort Virginia in 1619. Black people have been searching for a release, reaching for our freedom by any means necessary, ever since.In the wake of Ossie Davis’s Purlie Victorious, a powerful theatrical satire that highlights the complexities of African American history and identity, it is abundantly clear that the struggle for true equality has persistently eluded the African American community in the United States. Milestones such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and even the Emancipation Proclamation have all fallen short in their promise of equal rights.In their persistent struggle, African Americans have turned to their rich imagination, creativity, and, notably, humor as a subversive tool of resistance and resilience. Satire became an action word powerful enough to cut tense atmospheres with spontaneous joy. Just like negro worksongs and spirituals, this verb has been an emancipating tool used to challenge the status quo and generate a unique code for the emotional intelligence and resistance needed to withstand an unﬁltered harsh environment. Through storytelling, music, art, and the humor of ﬁgures like Purlie Victorious, African Americans transcend the limitations imposed upon them, forge their own cultural identities and assert their humanity. Humor, in particular, has been a powerful form of dissent and connection. It has allowed African Americans to both critique injustices and ﬁnd solace in shared laughter. In the face of adversity, humor becomes a weapon, a balm, and a form of cultural preservation. It can dismantle stereotypes, expose the absurdity of discrimination, and provide a light in the darkest of times. It has allowed marginalized voices to combat their realities and speak truth to power with authenticity and deﬁance.Laughter is a protest; far more than mere amusement in the quest for liberation.Ossie Davis knew this. Penned in this work is the safe space where Black rage could reside, coated in honey to save a nation; a safe space where we could reclaim humanity,consumed through and with laughter. In this enduring legacy, we are reminded that humor is a dynamic force—one that refuses to be silenced, that has the potential to inspire, provoke, and unite. Through humor, we ﬁnd not only emancipation but also a testament to the indomitable human spirit and its capacity to overcome even the most formidable obstacles.As we conclude this journey, the legacy of revolutionary laughter continues to evolve, adapting to the changing landscapes of injustice and inequality. In a world where new challenges emerge and where the ﬁght for emancipation persists, humor remains a vital weapon in the arsenal of those who seek change. Let us carry forward the lessons learned from “Revolutionary Laughter” and recognize that in humor, there exists a powerful means to confront injustice, build connections, and pave the way for a more equitable world. Emancipation, it seems, will forever bear the unmistakable imprint of laughter.https://whyy.org/segments/nothings-wrong-if-its-funny-black-comedy-taps-a-longstanding-coping-tool/ http://blackyouthproject.com/laughing-barrels-and-the-deﬁant-spirit-of-black-laughter/ https://thereclaimed.medium.com/from-barrels-of-laughter-to-laughing-out-loud-how-black-joy-honors-our-ancestors-b78bb5fe55f8 https://www.kalw.org/show/crosscurrents/2020-12-04/danielle-fuentes-morgan-on-the-revolutionary-power-of-black-satire• Godfrey Cambridge • Dick Gregory• Moms Mabley• Richard Pryor• Jordan Peel• Dave Chappelle• Quinta Brunson• Issa RayePhoto by Marc Franklin

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36 37THE HEALING POWER OF LAUGHTERThe ﬁeld of medicine has long recognized the importance of humor. Many studies have demonstrated the beneﬁcial eﬀects of laughter. Laughing during a humorous ﬁlm elevates the pain threshold and can help break the cycle between pain, sleep loss, depression, and immunosuppression.4 Laughter lowers blood pressure, epinephrine, and glucose levels, and increases glucose tolerance. Throughout history, humor has been linked to tragedy in literature and theater, but it can also be a form of escape. Humor can qualify as support mechanisms in the presence of impossible situations or traumatic circumstances in order to relieve tension and cope with the stress.2,7The search for a funny aspect in a diﬃcult moment can help us endure it, and when used to help others to cope.RELEASE: REVOLUTIONARY LAUGHTER RELEASE: REVOLUTIONARY LAUGHTERA good laugh has great short-term eﬀects. When you start to laugh, it doesn’t just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body. Laughter can:• Stimulate many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.• Activate and relieve your stress response. A rollicking laugh ﬁres up and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.• Soothe tension. Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.Laughter isn’t just a quick pick-me-up, though. It’s also good for you over the long term. Laughter may:• Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can aﬀect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help ﬁght stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.• Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers.• Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can also make it easier to cope with diﬃcult situations. It also helps you connect with other people.• Improve your mood. Many people experience depression, sometimes due to chronic illnesses. Laughter can help lessen your stress, depression and anxiety and may make you feel happier. It can also improve your self-esteem.• https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456• How do you process painful realities?• Where does your laughter come from?• How do you use laughter? Photo by Marc Franklin

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40 41Reparations: https://www.fabnyc.org/reparationsnyc/A conversation on reparations in NYC: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8115133/video/568590361The Legal Aid Society: https://legalaidnyc.org/what-we-do/ﬁghting-for-racial-equity/Operation Hope / Financial Literacy: https://operationhope.org/join-us/volunteer/Centsability / Financial Literacy: https://centsabilityeducation.org/Preservation of Parks, Nature and Community Spaces: https://www.nycgovparks.org/opportunities/volunteer/groups/black-focusedCenter for Racial Justice in Education: https://centerracialjustice.org/Audre Lorde Project: https://alp.org/New York Communities for Change: https://www.nycommunities.org/We Are New York Values: https://www.wearenewyorkvalues.org/Youth Voting: https://www.nycvotes.org/get-involved/youth-programs/Black Girls Vote: https://blackgirlsvote.com/BK Library Youth Advocacy: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/support/volunteer/bklyn-library-youthIN HIS OWN WORDS: Davis, Ossie, and Ruby Dee. Purlie Victorious: A Commemorative. Emmalyn Enterprises, 1993. PURLIE VICTORIOUS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT/BLOCKING PROGRESS: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/civil-war-era/reconstruction/e/reconstructionhttps://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-lawshttps://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sharecropping#rise-of-the-sharecropping-systemhttps://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/sharecropping/https://www.facinghistory.org/ideas-week/remembering-little-rockFOOLS OF CHELM https://www.commentary.org/articles/isaac-singer/three-stories-for-children/VAUDEVILLEhttps://vaudevilleamerica.org/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/vaudeville-about-vaudeville/721/https://www.britannica.com/art/vaudevillehttps://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-satire-how-to-use-satire-in-literature-pop-culture-and-politics-plus-tips-on-using-satire-in-writinghttps://study.com/learn/lesson/satire-types-examples.htmlhttps://www.britannica.com/art/farcehttps://black-face.com/jim-crow.htmhttps://www.americanheritage.com/blackface-sad-history-minstrel-showshttps://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/blackface-birth-american-stereotypehttps://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/black-joy-resistance-resilience-and-reclamationhttps://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/inﬂuence-birth-nationhttps://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/04/469149240/restored-movies-by-african-american-ﬁlmmakers-ﬁnd-new-audienceshttps://www.blackclassicmovies.com/race-ﬁlms-the-ﬁrst-golden-era-for-black-cinema/https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/jezebel/index.htmStudy guide conceived and developed by Rachel Weinstein with contributions from National Black Theatre.EPILOGUE: MAKE CIVIL RIGHTS FROM CIVIL WRONGSCommon Core State Standards• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using eﬀective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).National Core Arts StandardsVA:Cr1.2.Ia: Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art or design.VA:Cr1.2.IIa: Choose from a range of materials and methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices to plan works of art and design.MA:Cr2.1.I: Apply aesthetic criteria in developing, proposing, and reﬁning artistic ideas, plans, prototypes, and production processes for media arts productions, considering original inspirations, goals, and presentation context.Common Core Standards• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including ﬁgurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of speciﬁc word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and suﬃcient evidence.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the eﬀective selection, organization, and analysis of content.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reﬂection, and research.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5 Demonstrate understanding of ﬁgurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conﬂicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and suﬃcient evidence.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the eﬀective selection, organization, and analysis of content.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reﬂection, and research.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.5 Demonstrate understanding of ﬁgurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including ﬁgurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of speciﬁc word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure speciﬁc parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.Framework for 21st Century Learning: Creativity and Innovation• Use a wide range of idea creation techniques (such as brainstorming).• Elaborate, reﬁne, analyze, and evaluate their ideas in order to improve and maximize creative eﬀorts.• Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the ﬁeld in which the innovation will occurEDUCATION STANDARDS

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