Adrienne Kennedy (born September 13, 1931) is an American playwright.Peterson, Jane T., and Suzanne Bennett. "Adrienne Kennedy". ''Women Playwrights of Diversity''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. 201–205. She is best known for ''

Funnyhouse of a Negro ''Funnyhouse of a Negro'' is a one-act play by Adrienne Kennedy. The play opened off-Broadway in 1964 and won the Obie Award for Distinguished Play. The play shared this award with Amiri Baraka's '' Dutchman'', and was influenced by her radical ...

'', which premiered in 1964 and won an Obie Award.

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

. "Biographical sketch".
Adrienne Kennedy: An Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
'.

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

. She won a lifetime Obie as well. In 2018 she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. In 2022, Kennedy received the Gold Medal for Drama from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

; given every six years, it has been awarded to only 16 people, including

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

. Kennedy has been contributing to American theater since the early 1960s, influencing generations of playwrights with her haunting, fragmentary lyrical dramas. Exploring the violence racism brings to people's lives, Kennedy's plays express poetic alienation, transcending the particulars of character and plot through ritualistic repetition and radical structural experimentation. Much of her work explores issues of race, kinship, and violence in American society, and many of her plays are "autobiographically inspired."Sollors, Werner. "Introduction", ''The Adrienne Kennedy Reader'', Minneapolis:

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its boo ...

, 2001, p. vii.
"An introduction to the playwright's work"
A.R.T.) Kennedy is noted for the use of surrealism in her plays, which are often plotless and symbolic, drawing on mythical, historical, and imaginary figures to depict and explore the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

experience.Wilkerson, Margaret B. "Adrienne Kennedy", in Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris (eds), ''Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers''. Dictionary of Literary Biography vol. 38. Detroit:

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' critic

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, '' The New York Post.'' Barnes had sig ...

wrote: "While almost every black playwright in the country is fundamentally concerned with realism— LeRoi Jones and

Ed Bullins Edward Artie Bullins (July 2, 1935November 13, 2021), sometimes publishing as Kingsley B. Bass Jr, was an American playwright. He won awards including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obie Awards. Bullins was associated with ...

at times have something different going but even their symbolism is straightforward stuff—Miss Kennedy is weaving some kind of dramatic fabric of poetry." In 1995, critic

Michael Feingold Michael E. Feingold (May 5, 1945 – November 21, 2022) was an American critic, translator, lyricist, playwright and dramaturg. He was the lead theater critic of ''The Village Voice'' from 1982 to 2013, for which he was twice named a Pulitzer Pri ...

of the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' wrote that, "with Samuel Beckett gone, Adrienne Kennedy is probably the boldest artist now writing for the theater." Kennedy has also written in other genres, including poetry and essays.

Life and career

Adrienne Kennedy was born Adrienne Lita Hawkins on September 13, 1931, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. Her mother, Etta Hawkins, was a teacher, and her father, Cornell Wallace Hawkins, was a social worker. She spent most of her childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, attending

Cleveland public schools Cleveland Metropolitan School District, formerly the Cleveland Municipal School District, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Ohio that serves almost all of the city of Cleveland. The district covers 79 square miles. The Cleveland ...

.Andrews, William L., et al
"Adrienne Kennedy"
in William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster and Trudier Harris (eds), ''The Oxford Companion to African American Literature'', New York:

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, 1997. 418–19. She grew up in an integrated neighborhood and did not experience much racism until attending college at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. As a child, she spent most of her time reading books like ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' and ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in '' The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels an ...

'' instead of playing games with other children. She admired actors like

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

and began to focus on theater during her teenage years. ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...

'' was among the first plays she saw produced, inspiring her to explore her passion for

playwriting A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Her interest in playwriting continued when she started at Ohio State in 1949. She graduated from Ohio State in 1953 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in education and continued her studies at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1954–56. She married Joseph Kennedy on May 15, 1953, a month after graduating from Ohio State, and the couple had two children, Joseph Jr. and Adam P. Kennedy. They divorced in 1966. Her first play to be produced was ''

'', a one-act play she wrote in 1960, the year she visited

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

for a few months with her husband on his grant from the African Research Foundation. The play draws on Kennedy's African and European heritage as she explores a "black woman's psyche, riven by personal and inherited psychosis, at the root of which is the ambiguously double failure of both rapacious white society and its burdened yet also distorted victims." ''A Rat's Mass'' was produced at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in Manhattan's East Village twice in 1969 and once in 1971. In 1976, La MaMa's Annex performed the show with music by Cecil Taylor. ''Sun: A Poem for Malcolm X Inspired By His Death'' and ''A Beast Story'' were both produced at La MaMa in 1974. Kennedy was a founding member of the Women's Theatre Council in 1971, a member of the board of directors of

PEN A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

in 1976–77, and an

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

representative in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary, in 1978. Kennedy has taught or lectured at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(1972–74),

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

(1977), Brown University (1979–1980),

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(1986),

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(1991), Stanford University,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, and

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

. Her memoir ''People Who Led to My Plays'', first published in 1987, was reissued in 2016. As of 2018, Kennedy has written thirteen published and five unpublished plays, several autobiographies, a novella, and a short story. Kennedy used the alias Adrienne Cornell for the short story "Because of the King of France", published in '' Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature'' in 1963. Much of Kennedy's work is based on her lived experience. In 2022, Kennedy made her Broadway debut with the opening of her 1992 play '' Ohio State Murders'' at the James Earl Jones Theatre on December 8, starring

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...

The Alexander Plays (1992)

Suzanne Alexander is a recurring character in several of Kennedy's plays. ''She Talks to Beethoven'', ''The Ohio State Murders'', ''The Film Club'', and ''The Dramatic Circle'' are collectively known as the Alexander Plays, and were published together under that title in 1992. A letter written from Suzanne Alexander's perspective, "Letter to My Students on My Sixty-First Birthday by Suzanne Alexander", was also published in 1992. The Alexander Plays are less overtly surreal than many of Kennedy's earlier works, but still avoid linear narrative. In the foreword to the printed collection of plays, Alisa Solomon, professor in the

Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

, wrote that "the action of these plays is made up not of the events of Suzanne's life but of the process of turning memory into meaning."Solomon, Alisa. "Foreword", ''The Alexander Plays''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1992, p. xvi. .

Awards and honors

Kennedy won several awards for her plays, including a Stanley Drama Award (1963) from the New York City Writers Conference at

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

, two ''

'' Obie Awards. Her Obie Awards were for "Distinguished Play" in 1964 for ''Funnyhouse of a Negro'' and "Best New American Play" in 1996 for ''June and Jean in Concert'' and ''Sleep Deprivation Chamber''. She was also honored at the 2008 Obie Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Kennedy was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing in 1967, Rockefeller Foundation grants in 1967 and again in 1970, a fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

in 1972, the Creative Artists Public Service grant in 1974, the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...

, and the Pierre Lecomte du Noüy Award.Wilkerson, Margaret B. "Adrienne Kennedy", in Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris (eds), ''Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers''. Dictionary of Literary Biography vol 38. Detroit: Gale, 1985, p. 168.Ohio State honors six at spring 2003 commencement"
Columbus, OH: Ohio State University, News and Information, June 5, 2003. Kennedy received the Third Annual Manhattan Borough President's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1988. In 1990, she received the

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

. In 1994, Kennedy won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers' Award and an

award in Literature. In July 1995, Kennedy was named playwright in residence for the September 1995–May 1996 season with the Signature Theater Company in New York City. In 2003, Kennedy was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature by her undergraduate alma mater, Ohio State University. In 2006, Kennedy received the

PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award The PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award, commonly referred to as the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center). It annually recognizes two American playwrights. A medal is given ...

as a Master American Dramatist. In November 2020, the

Round House Theatre Round House Theatre is a nonprofit theater company based in Bethesda, Maryland. History Round House began life in 1970 as “Street ’70”, a program of the Montgomery County Department of Recreation that provided educational outreach in th ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, in association with the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J., launched ''The Work of Adrienne Kennedy: Inspiration and Influence'', a digital festival of filmed readings of her plays, which attracted much acclaim. In 2021, the

Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active M ...

named Kennedy as recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented "in recognition of distinguished lifetime achievement in theatrical writing". The Dramatists Guild's president, Amanda Green, said in a statement: "Adrienne Kennedy has used her immense storytelling skill with beautifully brutal imagery to share her theatrical dreamscapes with the world....From 1964's ''Funnyhouse of a Negro'' to 2018's ''He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box'', Adrienne has inspired countless young writers by remaining true to herself and her voice, knowing that what she had to say would resonate." In 2022, Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the

Works

Plays

* ''

'', 1964 * ''

The Owl Answers ''The Owl Answers'' is a one-act experimental play by Adrienne Kennedy. It premiered in 1965 at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut one year after Kennedy's most well-known piece, the Obie Award-winning ''Funnyhouse of a Negro''. Sub ...

'', 1965 * '' A Rat's Mass'', 1967 * ''The Lennon Play: In His Own Write'' (adapted from

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's ''

In His Own Write ''In His Own Write'' is a 1964 nonsense book by English musician John Lennon. His first book, it consists of poems and short stories ranging from eight lines to three pages, as well as illustrations. After Lennon showed journalist Michael Br ...

'' and ''

A Spaniard in the Works ''A Spaniard in the Works'' is a nonsense book by English musician John Lennon, first published on 24 June 1965. The book consists of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his previous book, 1964's '' In His Own Write''. The n ...

'' with

Victor Spinetti Vittorio Giorgio Andre "Victor" Spinetti (2 September 1929 – 19 June 2012) was a Welsh actor, author, poet, and raconteur. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films ...

), 1967 * ''A Beast's Story'', 1969 (produced with ''The Owl Answers'' as ''Cities in Bezique'') * ''Boats'', 1969 * ''Sun: A Play for Malcolm X Inspired by His Murder'' (monologue), 1968 * ''A Lesson in Dead Language'', 1968 * '' Electra'' and ''

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...

'' (adapted from

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

' plays), 1972 * ''An Evening with Dead Essex'' (one-act documentary drama), 1972 * ''A Movie Star Has to Star in Black and White'', 1976 * ''A Lancashire Lad'' (children's musical), 1980 * '' Black Children's Day'' (children's play), 1980 * ''Diary of Lights'' ("A Musical Without Songs"), 1987 * ''She Talks to Beethoven'' (one-act play, later collected as part of ''The Alexander Plays''), 1989 * '' The Ohio State Murders'' (one-act play, later collected as part of ''The Alexander Plays''), 1992 * ''The Film Club'' (monologue by Suzanne Alexander), 1992 * ''The Dramatic Circle'' (

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

based on ''The Film Club''; published 1994 in ''Moon Marked and Touched By Sun: Plays by African-American Women'', edited by Sydné Mahone), 1992 * ''Motherhood 2000'' (single scene short play), 1994 * ''June and Jean in Concert'' (play version of Kennedy's book ''People Who Led to My Plays''), 1995 * ''Sleep Deprivation Chamber'' (with son Adam P. Kennedy), 1996 * ''Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?'' (with Adam P. Kennedy), 2008 * ''He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box'', 2018

Other works

* "Because of the King of France" (short story), 1960. Published in ''

Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play ''Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Mora ...

'' in 1963 * ''People Who Led to My Plays'' (memoir), 1987. Reissued 2016. * ''Deadly Triplets'' (novella), 1990 * "Letter to My Students on My Sixty-First Birthday by Suzanne Alexander" (essay), 1992 * "Secret Paragraphs about My Brother" (essay), 1996 * "A Letter to Flowers" (essay), 1998 * "Sisters Etta and Ella (excerpt from a narrative)", 1999 * "Grendel Grendel's Mother" (essay), 1999 * "Forget" (poem), 2016; in ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'' (ed. Margaret Busby), 2019

References

External links

Adrienne Kennedy Papers
an
Lois More Overbeck Collection of Adrienne Kennedy
at the

Kennedy's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections

doollee.com (subscription required)
Archived profile of Adrienne Kennedy
* Ryan Spahn
"Spawned From Deep Experience: Corresponding With Adrienne Kennedy
''Juilliard Journal'', February 2013 * Alexis Soloski

''The New York Times'', January 10, 2018 * Hilton Als
"Adrienne Kennedy’s Startling Body of Work"
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', February 12 & 19, 2018. * Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
"Unraveling the Landscape: A Conversation With Adrienne Kennedy"
''American Theatre'', September 2019.
"The Lasting Impact of Adrienne Kennedy"
Ohio State University, March 15, 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Adrienne 1931 births 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American women writers African-American dramatists and playwrights African-American poets African-American women writers American Book Award winners American women academics American women dramatists and playwrights American women essayists Brown University faculty Harvard University faculty Living people New York University faculty Ohio State University alumni Princeton University faculty Stanford University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, Davis faculty Writers from Pittsburgh Yale University faculty African-American memoirists