Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880-1966)
ETC List Play: Plumes
Themes: motherhood, poverty, equitable healthcare
Why We Love Her:
Salons! She hosted a salon in her home and shaped many minds of the Harlem Renaissance- including fellow ETC writers Angelina Weld Grimké and Zora Neale Hurston (More about them on our new TikTok!)
Philosophy for Everyone! Published a weekly newspaper column called “Homely Philosophy” that ran in over 20 different newspapers across the country and helped people cope with the Great Depression.
Prolific! Her legacy includes 200 poems, 28 plays, and 31 short stories.
Shirley Graham Du Bois (1896-1977)
ETC List Play: Dust to Earth
Themes: Systemic racism, capitalism, mining
Why We Love Her:
Music! Wrote a blues and jazz inspired opera called Tom-Tom that premiered at the Stadium Opera Company with an all-Black cast.
Adapter! Created many jazz interpretations of Gilbert & Sullivan’s works, including Pirate of Penzance & The Swing Mikado - which went to Broadway.
Activist! Was a continuous advocate of civil rights and a member of the Communist Party of America - during the Red Scare!
Ntozake Shange (1948-2018)
ETC List Play: Spell #7
Themes: artistic expression, poetry, the entertainment industry
Why We Love Her:
Intersectional! Wrote about feminism and black culture in conversation.
Innovation! Coined the term “choreopoem” to describe her plays.
Heritage! Her name honors her African roots, meaning “she who comes with her own things” in Xhosa and she “who walks like a lion” in Zulu.
Shange is currently our Playwright of the Week on our social media. Follow us @etcclassics to learn more!
These are three of the many playwrights we love!
Check out more on our website.
Expand the Canon expands to TikTok
Check out our TikTok to learn more about Shange and other Black writers on our list, including Alice Childress, Zora Neale Hurston, & Angelina Weld Grimké. We post new content multiple times a week about a variety of topics, writers, and plays!
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