By Charles Fuller
1944. A black Sergeant is murdered on a Louisiana Army base, and one tenacious investigator must race against his white leadership to unravel the crime before they unravel him.
A hair-raising drama that reverberates with the “authentic and exciting pulse” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times) of mystery, Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece rockets onto Broadway for the first time, starring three-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier and Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun).
A Soldier’s Play
American Airlines Theatre – Roundabout Production
First Preview 27, Dec 2019
Opening Night 21, Jan 2020
Closed 11, Mar 2020
After 26 Previews / 58 Performances
Cast
Sergeant Vernon C. Waters – David Alan Grier
Captain Richard Davenport – Blair Underwood
Creative
Playwright – Charles Fuller
Set Design – Derek McLane
Costume Design – Dede Ayite
Lighting Design – Allen Lee Hughes
Sound Design – Dan Moses Schreier
Director – Kenny Leon
A Soldier’s Play is a drama by Charles Fuller. The play uses a murder mystery to explore the complicated feelings of anger and resentment that some African Americans have toward one another, and the ways in which many black Americans have absorbed white racist attitudes. This play is loosely based on Herman Melville’s novella Billy Budd.
Charles Fuller – Playwright
Charles H. Fuller Jr. (born March 5, 1939) is an African American playwright, best known for his play A Soldier’s Play, for which he received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Fuller vowed to become a writer after noticing that his high school’s library had no books by African American authors. He achieved critical notice in 1969 with The Village: A Party, a drama about racial tensions between a group of mixed-race couples. He later wrote plays for the Henry Street Settlement theatre and the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, who have performed several of his plays. His 1975 play The Brownsville Raid is based on the Brownsville Affair, an altercation between black soldiers and white civilians in Brownsville, Texas, in 1906, which led to an entire black regiment being dishonourably discharged though later pardoned in 1976.He won an Obie Award for Zooman and The Sign in 1980, about a black Philadelphia teen who kills a young girl on her own front porch, and whose neighbours eventually rise up against him after being goaded out of their apathy by the girl’s father with a sign. Zoo man presents himself as a helpless product of his society, but his victim’s father convinces their neighbour’s that they need to stand together and achieve justice. His next work, A Soldier’s Play, told the story of the racially charged search by a black captain for the murderer of a black sergeant on a Louisiana army base in 1944, as a means to discuss the position of blacks in white society. Although the play enjoyed a long run, Fuller has said it never played on Broadway because he refused to drop the last line, “You’ll have to get used to Black people being in charge.” It nevertheless was a critical success, winning Fuller a Pulitzer in 1982, and being produced as the 1984 film A Soldier’s Story, for which Fuller himself wrote the screen adaptation. His screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award, and it won an Edgar Award. After this play, Fuller switched his focus to movies for several years, saying “I always wanted to reach the most people with my work. Not enough people go to the theatre.” He has since written other works for the stage, but they have not been critically acclaimed.
American Airlines Theatre
| The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a historic Italian Renaissance style Broadway theatre built in 1918. It was designed by George Keister and built by the Selwyn brothers. Used for musicals and other dramatic performances it was eventually converted for film. It was used briefly as a visitor’s center but stood vacant for years until a 1997 renovation and restoration. It is located at 227 West 42nd Street, New York City. |
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| Address |
| 227 W 42nd St (between 7th Ave & 8th Ave) New York, NY 10036 |
| Transport |
|
Subway: Times Sq – 42 St (7, 7X) 42 St – Port Authority Bus Terminal A,C,E to 42st ; N,Q,R Times Sq |
| Phone |
| (212) 719-1300 |
| Box Office |
| Monday – Saturday: 10am – 8pm – Sunday: Noon – 6pm |
| Access Information |
| All Roundabout Theatre Company venues are accessible to patrons with mobility disabilities. The American Airlines Theatre |
| Fully accessible on both the Orchestra and Mezzanine levels |
| There is a wheelchair accessible to restrooms. |
a Soldiers play, soldiers play, David Alan Grier, Blair Underwood, Charles Fuller, Derek McLane, Dede Ayite, Allen Lee Hughes, Dan Moses Schreier, Kenny Leon
