''Bronzeville'' is a play written by

Tim Toyama Tim Toyama (born April 28, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois) is a playwright and producer. He is ''Sansei'' (third-generation Japanese American) living in Los Angeles, California. He is co-founder of the Asian American media company Cedar Grove Product ...

and

Aaron Woolfolk Aaron Woolfolk (born in Oakland, California) is an American film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and playwright. He shot his first feature film ''The Harimaya Bridge'' in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan and San Francisco. The film had ...

. Developed and produced by the

Robey Theatre Company Robey Theatre Company is a Los Angeles-based non-profit theatre company. History Robey Theatre Company was founded in 1994 by Danny Glover and Ben Guillory. It takes its name from the pioneering Black actor and activist, Paul Robeson. Robey's ...

, the original production and two subsequent revivals were directed by

Ben Guillory Bennet Guillory (born November 7, 1949 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American actor, theatre producer and director. Biography Raised in San Francisco, California, Guillory co-founded the Robey Theatre Company in honor of actor, activist, ...

. The play debuted at the

Los Angeles Theatre Center The Los Angeles Theatre Center is a performance complex of several theaters that first opened in Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Ang ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, on April 17, 2009. Toyama and Woolfolk were subsequently nominated for an

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards were a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They were given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Win ...

, and along with Guillory, they were nominated for the NAACP Theater Awards. The play is named after the period from 1942 through 1945 when the

neighborhood of

Little Tokyo Little Tokyo (), also known as Little Tokyo Historic District, is an ethnically Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the largest Japanese-American population in North America. It is the largest and most populous of ...

was referred to as "Bronzeville". Following the

internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

, many

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

migrated to California from the southern United States and settled in Little Tokyo, which then became known as Bronzeville.

Plot

The play is set between the spring of 1942 and the spring of 1945. It tells the story of an African American family, the Goodwins, who move from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

to Los Angeles. When they discover a Japanese American man, "Henry" Tahara, hiding in their attic, the family must confront their values as they struggle to protect themselves and do what is right.

Development and production

Tim Toyama and Aaron Woolfolk both independently learned about Little Tokyo's Bronzeville period - Toyama from a friend, and Woolfolk after seeing a mural of

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

in the neighborhood. In 2007, Toyama approached Robey Theatre Company's artistic director Ben Guillory about producing the play and requested a recommendation for an African American writer to co-author the work. Guillory recommended Woolfolk, who at the time was developing the film ''

The Harimaya Bridge ''The Harimaya Bridge'' is a 2009 film written and directed by American filmmaker Aaron Woolfolk. It was filmed in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan and San Francisco.See an article in IMDb, External links, below. The film had a nationwide theatrical rele ...

'' about an African American man in Japan. Toyama and Woolfolk developed ''Bronzeville'' over the next two years. In 2008, Toyama entered the play into the

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give ...

, David Henry Hwang Writer's Institute, where he and Woolfolk further developed the play and where it was performed for the first time in a staged reading. ''Bronzeville'' premiered on April 17, 2009, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. It was sold out and extended by two weeks. Although some early marketing materials stated that ''Bronzeville'' was based on a true story, this was erroneous. ''Bronzeville'' had its first revival as an abridged version in May 2011 at the Manzanar National Historic Site in

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, California. It was produced by the Robey Theatre Company, Manzanar National Historic Site, and Inyo Council for the Arts. A second, full-length revival was produced by the Robey Theatre Company, the

Latino Theater Company The Latino Theater Company (LTC) is a theatre producing organization based in Los Angeles, California. History Latino Theater Company was founded in 1985 by its Artistic Director, Jose Luis Valenzuela. Founding members included Lupe Ontivero ...

, and Kathie Foley Meyer. It was staged at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in June and July 2013 as part of the Project Bronzeville festival. On March 28, 2014, a staged reading of the play was presented by

The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre is an African-American arts institution located in downtown San Francisco. It is named after Lorraine Hansberry, who wrote ''A Raisin in the Sun'' while living in Bay Area. Since being founded in 1981, The Lorraine ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California.

Reception and awards

''Bronzeville'' received positive reviews. ''The'' ''LA Stage Times'' called the 2013 revival "a revelation" that "packs a powerful punch." Woolfolk and Toyama were nominated for an

in the category Best Playwrighting for an Original Play. ''Bronzeville'' was also nominated for four NAACP Theater Awards: Toyama and Woolfolk for Best Playwright, Guillory for Best Director, the cast for Best Ensemble Cast, and Luke Moyer for Best

Lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...

, for which he won.

Characters

*Hide "Henry" Tahara (Original cast member: Jeff Manabat) *Jodie Goodwin (Original cast member: Dwain A. Perry) *Alice Goodwin (Original cast member: Adenrele Ojo) *Mama Janie (Original cast member: CeCe Antoinette) *Felix Goodwin (Original cast member: Larry Powell) *Jane "Princess" Goodwin (Original cast member: Candice Afia) *Joseph Cardell "Tubby" Griffin (Original cast member: Robert Clements) *Theodus "Hamp" Hampton (Original cast member: Landon H. Lewis, Jr.) *June Bug (Original cast member: Anthony B. Phillips) *Naoma Tahara (Original cast member: Dana Lee) *FBI Agent Frank Morgan (Original cast member: Benjamin Fitch) *Officer Smith (Original cast member: Darrell Phillip) *FBI Agent Larry Powell (Original cast member: Darrell Phillip) *Sam Teraoka (Original cast member: Michael Yama) In the 2013 revival, all roles were reprised by the original cast members except for Alice Goodwin (played by Kellie Dantzler), Felix Goodwin (Aaron Jennings), Jane "Princess" Goodwin (Iman Milner), FBI Agent Frank Morgan (Mark L. Colbenson), and Sam Teraoka (Vladimir Velasco). The character "June Bug" was edited out of the story.

References

External links

*{{cite web , first=Sami , last=Kishawi , date=August 21, 2012 , url=https://chicagomonitor.com/2012/08/how-to-tell-your-friends-from-the-japs-in-time-1941-vs-turban-primer-in-redeye-2012/ , title='How to tell your friends from the Japs' in ''Time'', 1941 vs. 'Turban Primer' in ''RedEye'', 2012 , work=Chicago Monitor Includes an image of the ''Time'' article. 2009 plays American plays