BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//InvisionCommunity Events 5.0.18//EN METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN REFRESH-INTERVAL:PT15M X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT15M X-WR-CALNAME:RMWorkCalendar NAME:RMWorkCalendar BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:https://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:#BlackHistory337 - 8: Stageplays 10012026 DTSTAMP:20261002T014429Z SEQUENCE:0 UID:893-5-c3fe8195a3dde498d013e477e2142422@aalbc.com ORGANIZER;CN="richardmurray":noreply@aalbc.com DESCRIPTION:URLhttps://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/journal/BlackHistory 337---8%3A-Stageplays-1381899790CONTENT#BlackHistory337 is about the time outside the 28 days designated as Black History Month\, an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of the Black community during the other 337 da ys of the year. Let's continue learning all year long\, because history do esn't stop when February ends.For this edition of #Black337 the focus is t he stageplay. Now\, any platform is a stage. From the elevated stages in L incoln Center or the Metropolitan Opera \, in downtown Manhattan\, or in a high school's auditorium[place to hear] to a flat space aside a small tow n or a living room with the chairs or table cleared out. The stages are as old as the main halls of the pharaohs of yore or the fields where enterta iners would perform dramas before kings or queens existed. And plays\, com e in all forms\, from one person shows to musicals.For the purpose of Blac k337 we will focus on Stageplays in the USA made by Black Americans whose forebears were enslaved or enslaved themselves.One of the earliest stages for Black people in the United States of America is the African Grove Thea tre[ 1820-1821] started by George A. Thompson jr. [located at 38 Thompson Street] In such a place\, Thompson jr. wrote \"King Shotoway\". It is not available\, or has been lost in time.One of the people who saw plays at th e African Grove Theatre was Ira Aldridge. (1807-1867) : first Black Americ an honored by Haiti\, King Frederick of Prussia honored him with the Pruss ian Gold Medal for Arts and Science.https://www.nypl.org/events/tours/audi o-guides/100-century-collections-community-and-creativity/item/19625Alongs ide Ira Aldridge in Europe was Victor Sejour (1817 1874)\, arguably the Fr ench parallel. Sejour\, author of the Mulatre\, one of the earliest books published by a Black American\, was born in New Orleans. Like Aldridge he fled the U.S.A. for Europe and was honored in Europe\, a chevalier. The la st thirty eight years of his life \, Sejour wrote or acted in plays in Par is.La Mulatre from Sejourhttps://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/495-le-mul%C3%A2 tre-from-victor-s%C3%A9jour-two-versions-split-by-an-essay/While Aldridge or Sejour fled the USA and its white populace for Europe\, to gain the abi lity to lift their head. William Well Brown (1814-1884) born in Kentucky\, escaped enslavement to whites after twenty years and lived in the U.S.A. He wrote a play \"The Escape\; or\, A Leap for Freedom\". I quote the begi nning of the preface.This play was written for my own amusement\, and not with the remotest thought that it would ever be seen by the public eye. I read it privately\, however\, to a circle of my friends\, and through them was invited to read it to a Literary Society. Since then\, the drama has been given in various parts of the country.And I quote the end of the pref ace.The play\, no doubt\, abounds in defects\, but as I was born in slaver y\, and never had a day's schooling in my life\, I owe the public no apolo gy for errorsInternet Archive with a photocopied version of Black Theatre USA. The link goes ot page 37 where\, The Escape\, begins.https://archive. org/details/blacktheatreusar00/page/37/mode/2upIn the year 1865 \, the War Between the States ended in the USA. At the end of said war over ninety p ercent of Black people in the United States of America were illiterate bec ause of the anti-literacy positions by whites who owned blacks. Around the year 1910\, two thirds of the Black populace in the USA could read while ninety five percent of the Black populace in the USA in the time frame had no financial support or opportunity or allowance while citizens of the US A.In the light of that environment\, as a contrast\, musical comedy's thri ved. Acts like the Hyers Sisters Combination produced Urlina\, the African Princess. Sam Lucas\, the black minstrel\, with Sam Jack\, white theater owner\, created the very successful \"The Creole Burlesque Show\" . Egbert Williams (1876 - 1921) and George Walker (1872-1911) created a comedy sho w that used various Black entertainers to highlight their skills. Williams and Walker worked with: writer Jesse Shipp\, composer Will Cook\, lyricis t Paul Dunbar. [ husband of writer Alice Dunbar Nelson\, who is a great sh ort story muse for me] created \"In Dahomey\, a Negro Musical Comedy\"(190 2)\; the play was performed in front of the royal family of England\, and had a four year run in the United States.Poster for the London premiere of \"In Dahomey at the Shaftesbury Theatre\, 1903. The poster features the f amous cake walk with Bert Williams\, acclaimed comedian\, at the top of th e cake.George Walker\, Adah Overton Walker\, and Bert Williams link arms a nd dance the cakewalk in the first Broadway musical to be written and perf ormed by African Americans\, \"In Dahomey.\"But one of the most vital stag eplay forms in the late 1800s or early 1900s is Pageants. No not beauty pa geants but stage pageants. Usually they reenact historical events with nar ration \, costumes \, dancing \, music. The Wizard of Oz was made into a b awdy play that essentially was a pageant. W.E.B. Dubois(1868-1963)\, yes a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People \, made a pageant called the \"Star of Ethiopia\" (1913)\, seen by tens of thousands\, prepared by several thousand(for example 200 singers in the c horus).1916 philadelphia performance\"A group of 200 out of the 1\,078 par ticipants\"\, Philadelphia\, 1916Three years after the Star of Ethiopia \, Angelina Weld Grimke(1880-1958) wrote Rachel (1916). The earliest complet e drama for the stage written by a black women in the United States of Ame rica.The first modern production of Rachel was in 1990 at Spelman college. Unknown date photo of GrimkeFull Text of Rachelhttps://en.wikisource.org/w iki/Rachel_(Grimke_1920)In 1921 Shuffle Along was produced. The book is fr om F.E. Miller plus Aubrey Lyles. The music is from Eubie Blake. The lyric s are from Noble Sissle. It ran for 504 shows. It was the earliest broadwa y work for Josephine Baker(Would move to France and become an icon of film and stage)\, Paul Robeson(legendary lawyer/singer/athlete/shakesperean ac tor/made famous Showboat)\, Fredi Washington (the first peola [of \"immita tion of life\"] in film)\, Florence Mills (legendary performer who died yo ung)\, Adelaide Hall (was a great jazz entertainer and did the same as Jos ephine Baker). The song \"I'm just wild about Harry\" sung by Michigan J. Frog \, comes from this play.Sheet music for \"Love Will Find a Way\"\, a song from the showCover page for \"I'm Just Wild About Harry\"\, 1921Looki ng at the history of these early works you can see how multiform or imagin ative while commenting Black Stageplay productions were in the past\, even if the environment was a challenge.I used the book \"Black Theatre USA\"\ , \"The Early Period 1847-1938\" from James V. Hatch plus Ted Shine as a r eference for most of the information stated. The images come from Wikipedi a.GALLERY OF INSPIRED WORKOLiteratureOnto the 53rd Annual President's Play Onto the 53rd Annual President's Play from Richard Murray CHARACTERS Fofo\ , Caribbean Sovereign League Chief Commander Tonton\, her husband Billy\, an electrical humanoid servant SETTING In a vehicle with two bench seats\, driven by Billy\, through the celebrating ways in the air or on the groun d between buildings. Fofo and Tonton are in the back seat\, wearing blue a nd white clothes to honor Iemanja. They are being driven to the 53rd annua l President's Play at the main stage in the Castle Blanco\, in Nova York C ity\, the capitol of the Union de Stados Americanos\, during the first day of the Tides of Yemanja\, February second being the Lavagem de Iemanja\, in the year 2217. ACT (Tonton looks toward his window as the sound of peop le cheering partying or celebrating emanates. He slowly or gently closes t he window and turns to Fofo\; the cheering isn't muted but at a whisper. S he is smiling gently while introspective. They hold each other's hand. The ir official pirate hats are onDLiteratureDawanga DAWANGA The Eternal Light by Richard Murray CAST Father - middle aged\, metal eye\, dark chocolate skin Sweetie - daughter of father\, elementary school age\, dark chocolate skin\, bright green eyes Scene 1 Setting The attic of a large multilevel old barn. One side of the attic has patchwork working bulky electronic equ ipment including: a battery series for electric power in a bookshelf\, a v iew screen atop a book cart\, a set of signal readers in a former 1940's g rand radio\, a pulse receiver housed in a former grandfather clock. The ot her side of the room has a dusty bed\, chair\, table\, mini bookshelf with books\, three boxes each with a bucket. The room is split by worn dusters and mops. Afternoon light from an oculus above shine in between the elect ronics. A chime from the signal machinery in the grandfather click housing emit every minute. (The signal chime activate. Five minutes later steps a re heard coming up stairs. The attic door is knocked until broken in.TLite ratureThe Journey of Sofie Wakten to become a witch The Journey of Sofie W akten to become a witch Told in three plays\, one for knowledge\, one for determination\, one for faith From Richard Murray TITLE: THE INITIATION Ca st Sofie Wakten- Irish descent\, sixteen year old\, dark red hair\, female Candace Sahar- descended of enslaved [USA] descent\, thirty one\, afro\, female\, wear's an initiate's ring[ a gold ring with three rods: black(kno wledge)\, red(determination)\, yellow(faith)] The Very Large Giant Soldier of the little people from Nibiru- the guide for Candace Setting A dry sum mer afternoon in an apartment in a greystone mansion in 1966 Bronzeville C hicago. The sitting room in Candace Sahar's apartment has a mahogany table \, two chairs\, three open bay windows delivering light. Two side windows are jalousie windows\; their louvers are adjusted open. The central window is a casement window of float glass with hinges on the side.   The soun ds of Gospel side Blues side Jazz  collide into a beautiful sonocopia thr ough the bay windows ontoWLiteratureWHICH SUN IS FUNTITLE: WHICH SUN IS FU N SUBTITLE: A Play Of Measures from Richard Murray / HDdeviant CAST: Edubr er Rabbit - Dark brown swamp rabbit\, a large cottontail\, baseball jacket of the SweetBees Stingers Wise Alek - Rabbit\, big feet or ears like a ha re\, a shirt pastel colored\, a small tie\, overbite teeth Phillipe Saddle tear - A bird shaped like a common raven\, medium magenta breast or belly or flank\, maroon colored wings\, dark magenta tarsus\, red eye patch over right eye\, black beak\, mechanical left talon\, green eyes Viz - Short f or Videlicet\, a magnifying lens in a frame\, no handle SETTING: Outside o ne of the boundaries of the Sweet Swamp. Onto a plain. The back of the sta ge thick green of the Sweet Swamp. Viz is sleep on the right side of the s tage. PLAY: Enter Alek\, Edubrer\, Saddletear [ from the right side of the back stage] laughing side to side. Alek's right paw out wise\, left paw o ver the shoulder of Edubrer\, Edubrer's right paw is over the shoulder of AlekTLiteratureThe Asteroid of Dr MakupTITLE:  The Asteroid of Dr Makup  SUBTITLE: a possibility hidden among the rocks in the sky  from Richard Murray / @HDdeviant   /RichardMurrayHumblr     CAST:  Newton Noir- ma n\, 20s\, traveling at the edge of trafficked space in hibernation\, Afric an American  Dr. Makup- female\, middle aged\, unknown origins but sexy A frican facial features\, slightly round belly  Adam- assistant to Dr. Mak up\, human form robot\, plain human characteristics\, appear like a Nuba f rom Kemet/Egypt     SETTING: Left\, Right\, Back\, Front by Viewers per spective. The back wall is like the inside of a stone quarry\, the left wa ll has a rocky irregular shape\, a protrusion of stone\, like a small hill \, taller than a basketball center at its maximum height. The right wall i s bare.      ACT     The sliding sound of two dragging something me tal on a rocky surface\, from the open main vestibule.     Enter Dr. Ma kup and Adam\, dragging the pod Newton Noir is in\, Newton is sleeping.     Dr. Makup\, stopping: OK Adam [ Makup stopMONTHLY CONTENTThe followi ng is a stageplay from Richard Murray @HDdeviantCLiteratureCUMYA CHILDRENT ITLE: CUMYA CHILDREN subtitle: A Black FableBLACK THEATRICAL CONTENTList o f ALL BLACK BROADWAY PLAYShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:All-Black _cast_Broadway_shows#BlackHistory337 2026-2027 #1Mar 14\, 2026#BlackHistor y337 2026-2027 #2Apr 1\, 2026#BlackHistory337 2026-2027 #3May 1\, 2026#Bla ckHistory337 2026-2027 #4Jun 2\, 2026#BlackHistory337 5 : FablesJul 4\, 20 26#BlackHistory337 6 : Fictional Slave NarrativesAug 1\, 2026#BlackHistory 337 - 7: High FantasySep 1\, 2026#black337 #hddeviant #richardmurray #rich ardmurrayhumblr #blackhistory#stageplay #theater #theatre DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261001 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR