Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter examines the significance of Robeson’s historic portrayal of Othello on the Broadway stage during World War II. The importance of this revival was embedded not only in the conscious ...
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This chapter examines the significance of Robeson’s historic portrayal of Othello on the Broadway stage during World War II. The importance of this revival was embedded not only in the conscious decision to cast a black actor in the lead role but, moreover, that it responded to both the wartime context and the issue of segregation in the theater setting.Less
This chapter examines the significance of Robeson’s historic portrayal of Othello on the Broadway stage during World War II. The importance of this revival was embedded not only in the conscious decision to cast a black actor in the lead role but, moreover, that it responded to both the wartime context and the issue of segregation in the theater setting.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This book examines the historical and political context of acclaimed African American actor Paul Robeson’s three portrayals of Shakespeare’s Othello in the United Kingdom and the United States. These ...
More
This book examines the historical and political context of acclaimed African American actor Paul Robeson’s three portrayals of Shakespeare’s Othello in the United Kingdom and the United States. These performances took place in London in 1930, on Broadway in 1943, and in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959. All three of the productions, when considered together, provide an intriguing glimpse into Robeson’s artistry as well as his political activism. The book maintains that Robeson’s development into a politically minded artist explicates the broader issue of the role of the African American artist in times of crisis. Robeson (1898–1976) fervently believed that political engagement was an inherent component of the role of the artist in society, and his performances demonstrate this conviction. In the 1930 production, audiences and critics alike confronted the question: Should a black actor play Othello in an otherwise all-white cast? In the 1943 production on Broadway, Robeson consciously used the role as a form for questioning theater segregation both onstage and in the seats. In 1959, after he had become well known for his leftist views and sympathies with Communism, his performance in a major Stratford-upon-Avon production called into question whether audiences could accept onstage an African American who held radical—and increasingly unpopular—political views. The book uses Robeson’s Othello performances as a collective lens to analyze the actor and activist’s political and intellectual development.Less
This book examines the historical and political context of acclaimed African American actor Paul Robeson’s three portrayals of Shakespeare’s Othello in the United Kingdom and the United States. These performances took place in London in 1930, on Broadway in 1943, and in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959. All three of the productions, when considered together, provide an intriguing glimpse into Robeson’s artistry as well as his political activism. The book maintains that Robeson’s development into a politically minded artist explicates the broader issue of the role of the African American artist in times of crisis. Robeson (1898–1976) fervently believed that political engagement was an inherent component of the role of the artist in society, and his performances demonstrate this conviction. In the 1930 production, audiences and critics alike confronted the question: Should a black actor play Othello in an otherwise all-white cast? In the 1943 production on Broadway, Robeson consciously used the role as a form for questioning theater segregation both onstage and in the seats. In 1959, after he had become well known for his leftist views and sympathies with Communism, his performance in a major Stratford-upon-Avon production called into question whether audiences could accept onstage an African American who held radical—and increasingly unpopular—political views. The book uses Robeson’s Othello performances as a collective lens to analyze the actor and activist’s political and intellectual development.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter introduces Shakespeare’s play and offers an overview of important precedents—from Britain, the US, and the African American community—to Robeson’s portrayal of the Moor of Venice. It ...
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This chapter introduces Shakespeare’s play and offers an overview of important precedents—from Britain, the US, and the African American community—to Robeson’s portrayal of the Moor of Venice. It also provides context for Robeson’s artistry by looking at Shakespeare in the African American community and the importance of the black oratorical tradition to Robeson’s acting methodology.Less
This chapter introduces Shakespeare’s play and offers an overview of important precedents—from Britain, the US, and the African American community—to Robeson’s portrayal of the Moor of Venice. It also provides context for Robeson’s artistry by looking at Shakespeare in the African American community and the importance of the black oratorical tradition to Robeson’s acting methodology.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter discusses the blurring line between Robeson the artist and Robeson the activist in the 1940s. During this time, his political activities added depth to his Othello interpretation, while ...
More
This chapter discusses the blurring line between Robeson the artist and Robeson the activist in the 1940s. During this time, his political activities added depth to his Othello interpretation, while his political involvement can be conceptualized as performance outside of the formal theater. In all arenas, he advocated against fascism and for the dignity of the African American community.Less
This chapter discusses the blurring line between Robeson the artist and Robeson the activist in the 1940s. During this time, his political activities added depth to his Othello interpretation, while his political involvement can be conceptualized as performance outside of the formal theater. In all arenas, he advocated against fascism and for the dignity of the African American community.
Marvin McAllister
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807835081
- eISBN:
- 9781469602431
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807869062_mcallister
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
In the early 1890s, black performer Bob Cole turned blackface minstrelsy on its head with his nationally recognized whiteface creation, a character he called Willie Wayside. Just over a century ...
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In the early 1890s, black performer Bob Cole turned blackface minstrelsy on its head with his nationally recognized whiteface creation, a character he called Willie Wayside. Just over a century later, hiphop star Busta Rhymes performed a whiteface supercop in his hit music video “Dangerous.” This sweeping work explores the enduring tradition of “whiting up,” in which African American actors, comics, musicians, and even everyday people have studied and assumed white racial identities. Not to be confused with racial “passing” or derogatory notions of “acting white,” whiting up is a deliberate performance strategy designed to challenge America's racial and political hierarchies by transferring supposed markers of whiteness to black bodies-creating unexpected intercultural alliances even as it sharply critiques racial stereotypes. Along with conventional theater, the author considers a variety of other live performance modes, including weekly promenading rituals, antebellum cakewalks, solo performance, and standup comedy. For over three centuries, whiting up has allowed African American artists to appropriate white cultural production, fashion new black identities through these “white” forms, and advance our collective ability to locate ourselves in others.Less
In the early 1890s, black performer Bob Cole turned blackface minstrelsy on its head with his nationally recognized whiteface creation, a character he called Willie Wayside. Just over a century later, hiphop star Busta Rhymes performed a whiteface supercop in his hit music video “Dangerous.” This sweeping work explores the enduring tradition of “whiting up,” in which African American actors, comics, musicians, and even everyday people have studied and assumed white racial identities. Not to be confused with racial “passing” or derogatory notions of “acting white,” whiting up is a deliberate performance strategy designed to challenge America's racial and political hierarchies by transferring supposed markers of whiteness to black bodies-creating unexpected intercultural alliances even as it sharply critiques racial stereotypes. Along with conventional theater, the author considers a variety of other live performance modes, including weekly promenading rituals, antebellum cakewalks, solo performance, and standup comedy. For over three centuries, whiting up has allowed African American artists to appropriate white cultural production, fashion new black identities through these “white” forms, and advance our collective ability to locate ourselves in others.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter examines the development of Robeson’s writing on culture in the 1930s. This decade marked the maturation of his political thinking and was the key moment when his politics began to ...
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This chapter examines the development of Robeson’s writing on culture in the 1930s. This decade marked the maturation of his political thinking and was the key moment when his politics began to conjoin with his art. This progress is explored through fundamental events, including Robeson’s portrayal of Toussaint L’Ouverture, his published writing on African culture, and his visit to the front of the Spanish civil war.Less
This chapter examines the development of Robeson’s writing on culture in the 1930s. This decade marked the maturation of his political thinking and was the key moment when his politics began to conjoin with his art. This progress is explored through fundamental events, including Robeson’s portrayal of Toussaint L’Ouverture, his published writing on African culture, and his visit to the front of the Spanish civil war.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter examines Robeson’s first portrayal of Othello in London in 1930, including the critical reception of the play and the obstacles that inhibited this from being a successful production ...
More
This chapter examines Robeson’s first portrayal of Othello in London in 1930, including the critical reception of the play and the obstacles that inhibited this from being a successful production overall. This experience was crucial to Robeson’s growth as an artist and the development of his cultural theory.Less
This chapter examines Robeson’s first portrayal of Othello in London in 1930, including the critical reception of the play and the obstacles that inhibited this from being a successful production overall. This experience was crucial to Robeson’s growth as an artist and the development of his cultural theory.
Kathryn H. Fuller-Seeley
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520295049
- eISBN:
- 9780520967946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520295049.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Radio
Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century - by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass ...
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Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century - by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass medium in the US. In 23 years of weekly radio broadcasts, by aiming all the insults at himself, Benny created Jack, the self-deprecating “Fall Guy” character. He indelibly shaped American humor as a space to enjoy the equal opportunities of easy camaraderie with his cast mates, and equal ego deflation. Benny was the master of comic timing, knowing just when to use silence to create suspense or to have a character leap into the dialogue to puncture Jack’s pretentions. Jack Benny was also a canny entrepreneur, becoming one of the pioneering “showrunners” combining producer, writer and performer into one job. His modern style of radio humor eschewed stale jokes in favor informal repartee with comic hecklers like his valet Rochester (played by Eddie Anderson) and Mary Livingstone his offstage wife. These quirky characters bouncing off each other in humorous situations created the situation comedy. In this career study, we learn how Jack Benny found ingenious ways to sell his sponsors’ products in comic commercials beloved by listeners, and how he dealt with the challenges of race relations, rigid gender ideals and an insurgent new media industry (TV). Jack Benny created classic comedy for a rapidly changing American culture, providing laughter that buoyed radio listeners from 1932’s depths of the Great Depression, through World War II to the mid-1950s.Less
Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century - by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass medium in the US. In 23 years of weekly radio broadcasts, by aiming all the insults at himself, Benny created Jack, the self-deprecating “Fall Guy” character. He indelibly shaped American humor as a space to enjoy the equal opportunities of easy camaraderie with his cast mates, and equal ego deflation. Benny was the master of comic timing, knowing just when to use silence to create suspense or to have a character leap into the dialogue to puncture Jack’s pretentions. Jack Benny was also a canny entrepreneur, becoming one of the pioneering “showrunners” combining producer, writer and performer into one job. His modern style of radio humor eschewed stale jokes in favor informal repartee with comic hecklers like his valet Rochester (played by Eddie Anderson) and Mary Livingstone his offstage wife. These quirky characters bouncing off each other in humorous situations created the situation comedy. In this career study, we learn how Jack Benny found ingenious ways to sell his sponsors’ products in comic commercials beloved by listeners, and how he dealt with the challenges of race relations, rigid gender ideals and an insurgent new media industry (TV). Jack Benny created classic comedy for a rapidly changing American culture, providing laughter that buoyed radio listeners from 1932’s depths of the Great Depression, through World War II to the mid-1950s.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter explores Robeson’s third portrayal of Othello in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959. This triumphant moment recalled the pinnacle of Robeson’s career, the Broadway Othello, while symbolizing ...
More
This chapter explores Robeson’s third portrayal of Othello in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959. This triumphant moment recalled the pinnacle of Robeson’s career, the Broadway Othello, while symbolizing his victory over the State Department’s unconstitutional withholding of his right to travel overseas. This revival afforded audiences abroad the opportunity to affirm their support for him as both an artist and a citizen of great courage who had stood steadfastly against government suppression and emerged with his dignity intact.Less
This chapter explores Robeson’s third portrayal of Othello in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959. This triumphant moment recalled the pinnacle of Robeson’s career, the Broadway Othello, while symbolizing his victory over the State Department’s unconstitutional withholding of his right to travel overseas. This revival afforded audiences abroad the opportunity to affirm their support for him as both an artist and a citizen of great courage who had stood steadfastly against government suppression and emerged with his dignity intact.
Lindsey R. Swindall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604738247
- eISBN:
- 9781604738254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604738247.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This introductory chapter first describes Paul Robeson’s early career and his political activism. It then considers the role of the artist in times of crisis, based on the development of Robeson’s ...
More
This introductory chapter first describes Paul Robeson’s early career and his political activism. It then considers the role of the artist in times of crisis, based on the development of Robeson’s maturity as a politically minded artist, as depicted through his three Othello productions. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter first describes Paul Robeson’s early career and his political activism. It then considers the role of the artist in times of crisis, based on the development of Robeson’s maturity as a politically minded artist, as depicted through his three Othello productions. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.