''Eden'' is a 1976 play by American playwright Steve Carter. Set in the 1920s, it is the first of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. ''Eden'' explores intra-racial conflicts between recent immigrants from the Caribbean and the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
population. The West Coast premiere of this critically acclaimed play received five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.
Characters
; Joseph Barton: The main character of the play. A recent Caribbean immigrant to the United States and follower of
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
.
; Annetta Barton: Joseph's daughter. She falls in love with Eustace Baylor, an African-American from the South, which causes the central conflict within the story.
; Eustace Baylor: An African American from the rural South than falls in love with Annette.
; Solomon Barton: One of Joseph's sons.
; Nimrod Barton: One of Joseph's sons.
Plot synopsis
Set in the San Juan Hill section of New York City in 1927, Joseph Barton, a recent Caribbean immigrant and follower of Marcus Garvey discovers to his horror that his daughter is keeping company with an uneducated African American man from the rural South.
Origins of the play
''Eden'' is loosely based on the story of the playwright's parents. Horace Carter, Sr., a native of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and his wife, Carmen, who was born in New York of Caribbean descent, lived in New York City at the time of their son's birth.
Original off-Broadway production
*Directed by
Edmund Cambridge
Edmund James Cambridge Jr. (September 18, 1920 – August 18, 2001) was an American actor and director who was a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) and the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theater Arts School.Negro Ensemble Company (NEC)
*Executive Director:
Robert Hooks
Robert Hooks (born Bobby Dean Hooks; April 18, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and activist. Along with Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald S. Krone, he founded The Negro Ensemble Company. The Negro Ensemble Company is credited with the launc ...
*Artistic Director:
Douglas Turner Ward
Douglas Turner Ward (May 5, 1930February 20, 2021) was an American playwright, actor, stage director, director, and theatrical producer. He was noted for being a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He was nominate ...
*Managing Director: Frederick Garrett
*Set Designer: Pamela S. Peniston
*Costume Designer: Edna Watson
*Lighting Designer: Sandra L. Ross
*Production Stage Manager: Clinton Turner Davis
*Opened: March 3, 1976 at St. Mark's Playhouse (transferred to
Theatre De Lys
The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...
on May 14, 1976)
Cast
* Graham Brown - Joseph Barton
* Shirley Brown — Annetta Barton
*
Barbara Montgomery
Barbara Montgomery (born June 25, 1939) is an American stage, television and film actress, and theatrical and film director. She is best known for her performance in ''Amen'' (1986-1990).
Career
Born in Queens, Montgomery began her career on the ...
- Aunt Lizzie
*
Ethel Ayler
Ethyl Spraggins Ayler (May 1, 1930 – November 18, 2018) was an American character actress with a career spanning over five decades.
Biography
Ayler was born in Whistler, Alabama and graduated from Fisk University.
In 1957, she made her ...
- Florie
*
Samm-Art Williams
Samm-Art Williams (born Samuel Arthur Williams; January 20, 1946) is an American playwright and screenwriter, and a stage and film/ TV actor and television producer. Much of his work concerns the African-American experience.
He was nominated for ...
- Eustace Baylor
*
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...
Edmund Cambridge
Edmund James Cambridge Jr. (September 18, 1920 – August 18, 2001) was an American actor and director who was a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) and the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theater Arts School.Carl Lumbly
Carl Winston Lumbly (born August 14, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dick Hallorann in '' Doctor Sleep'', NYPD detective Marcus Petrie on the CBS police drama ''Cagney & Lacey'', CIA agent Marcus Dixon on the ABC espiona ...
Harold Sylvester
Harold Sylvester (born February 10, 1949) is an American film and television actor.
Early life and education
Sylvester was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a graduate of New Orleans' St. Augustine High School and Tulane University. Turning ...
- Eustace Baylor
* Marilyn Coleman
*
Ralph Carter
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
* J Marshall Evans
*
Larry B. Scott
Larry B. Scott (born August 17, 1961) is an American actor whose film debut was in the 1978 movie '' A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich''. He played Gerald LeFlore in the 1978 movie '' One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story''. He is best known ...
Feature film project
In 1985, Carter wrote the screenplay ''A Time Called Eden'', based on his play. It was set to go into production the following year, however, to date, the project remains unproduced.
Awards and nominations
Awards
* 1976 Outer Critics Circle Award
* 1976 Audelco Award
* 1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Direction (
Edmund Cambridge
Edmund James Cambridge Jr. (September 18, 1920 – August 18, 2001) was an American actor and director who was a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) and the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theater Arts School.Carl Lumbly
Carl Winston Lumbly (born August 14, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dick Hallorann in '' Doctor Sleep'', NYPD detective Marcus Petrie on the CBS police drama ''Cagney & Lacey'', CIA agent Marcus Dixon on the ABC espiona ...
)
* 1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Playwrighting ( steve carter)
* 1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Production (Los Angeles Theatre Center)
* 1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Supporting Performance (Marilyn Coleman)
Notes
In 2008, Barbara Montgomery from the original cast, staged a reading of ''Eden'' with the
Negro Ensemble Company
The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer-actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation. ...