Dreaming Emmett

''Dreaming Emmett'' is the first play by the Nobel-winning African-American writer Toni Morrison. First performed in 1986, the play was commissioned by the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY-Albany. The play's world premier, which was directed by Gilbert Moses, was on January 5, 1986 at Capital Repertory Theatre's Market Theater in Albany, New York. After its first production, Morrison reportedly destroyed all known video recordings of the play and copies of the script (although some critics describe copies existing but not being released by Morrison). Thus, all descriptions of the plot are reconstructed from contemporary reviews.

The play is a historical retelling of the life of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy beaten to death in 1955 by a group of white men, and the subsequent trial and acquittal of his killers. Morrison uses Till's story to explore the "contemporary black urban youth sdisproportionately high rate of death by violence".

In March 1986, Mario Cuomo and Kitty Carlisle Hart presented Morrison with the New York State Governor's Arts Award for ''Dreaming Emmett'' and other works.

Development

The play was commissioned by the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY-Albany to commemorate the first celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The play is often described as Morrison's first attempt at playwriting, though she had written the book and lyrics for '' New Orleans'', a musical that received a six-week workshop production in 1982 and staged readings at New York Shakespeare Festival in 1984.

When asked by an interviewer about her transition to writing plays, she said: "I keep asking Bill Kennedy to find one American who wrote novels first and then successful plays. Just one. And neither he nor I could come up with any one American. Even Henry James was a failure. He tried it three times and each time it was worse than the other. But I feel I have a strong point. I write good dialogue. It's theatrical. It moves. It just doesn't hang there." Morrison wrote the play in the midst of developing her 1987 novel ''Beloved'' (which would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1988).

"This area has a strong history of abolitionism that has surfaced over and over again in the literature of Black people. There's an old, established Black community here," Morrison told the ''Amsterdam News''. "This is also a professional, white collar city. it has all the tensions that exist in cities with Blacks and whites living together. Albany wasn't invented by Wall Street, it's not a resort town, it's not a bedroom community. I wanted to do the play here. I needed a certain kind of space in which to start this production. I wanted a community response. New York means theater-goers primarily. I wanted the response of neighborhood people."

Premiere

The public premiere of ''Dreaming Emmett'' took place on January 5, 1986. It was followed by a reception at the Steuben Athletic Club. "The reception was nearly over at 7:30 when a beaming Morrison arrived and strode through the room to bravos and applause," said the ''Albany Times Union''. The event included remarks by Morrison, director Gilbert Moses and William Kennedy. "I think the play will make racial as well as theatrical headlines," Kennedy said. "...it raises issues I've never seen raised before." In attendance was Gene Shalit, Willa Shalit, Albany Mayor Thomas Michael Whalen III, SUNY Chancellor Clifton R. Wharton Jr., assemblymember William F. Passannante, publisher Dardis McNamee, and two Broadway producers--Michel Stuart and Barbara Ligeti-Hewlitt, among others.

Production

The production of the play was directed by Morrison's friend Gilbert Moses. It ran at Capital Repertory Theatre from January 5, 1986 to February 2. The cast included Joseph C. Phillips (Emmett), Peggy Cowles (Princess), Mel Winkler (Eustace), Herb Downer (George), Beatrice Winde (Ma), Frank Stoeger (Major), Larry Golden (Buck) and Lorraine Toussaint (Tamara).
Production crew included Dale F. Jordan (Scenic and Lighting Designer), Willa Shalit (Mask Design), Lloyd K. Waiwaiole (Costume Design), Constance Valis Hill (Mask/Movement), Kevin Bartlett (Sound Design/Composer), Patricia Frey (Production Stage Manager), David Yergan (Technical Director) and Janet Storck (Properties Master).

Critical Reception

The play received mixed reviews in its initial production, with praise for Morrison's language but criticism of the form and production The play has a unique style and form. Margaret Croyden, in her review of ''Dreaming Emmett'' for the ''New York Times'', notes the control of Till's imagination on the play's elements and complex structural motifs, such as a play within a play, and creation of a "non-naturalistic" and "nonlinear" narrative. Albany critic Martin P. Kelly praised the importance of the work but critiqued "...theatricality that gets between the audience and the theme." Kelly noted good performances and remarked that the play "raises an issue but does not provide intriguing drama. There is no real plot and the characterizations are generally superficial." The ''Amsterdam News'' applauded a "first-rate cast" and the "ingenious" direction of Gilbert Moses. Morrison also spoke of the significance of locating the production in Albany. Other press found it a profound experience. "In the end we are not left with a feeling of completeness, rather we are left with a clearer knowledge of the conflicts and the problems that are continuing on the stage of life. For this I would recommend Dreaming Emmett," said a review in ''Concordiesis''. "A two-act, one-set eight-character intensely theatrical experience, the play has a convoluted plot line that moves across time past and present and unravels like an onion," said the ''The Berkshire Eagle''. "Every layer seems necessary to the shape and sense of the play and our reaction to it, but at the end, when all has unraveled, we have nothing solid left to remember or set our minds to rest upon. And this is both the tantalizing strength and the disturbing force of the play's intentions."

References

Further reading

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{{Toni Morrison

African-American plays
Emmett Till in fiction
1986 plays
Works by Toni Morrison