''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 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 Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...
.
; 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, 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 lau ...
*Artistic Director:
Douglas Turner Ward
Douglas Turner Ward (May 5, 1930February 20, 2021) was an American playwright, actor, director, and theatrical producer. He was noted for being a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He was nominated for the Tony ...
*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 design is large ...
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 of ...
- Florie
*
Samm-Art Williams
Samuel Arthur Williams (January 20, 1946 – May 13, 2024) was an American playwright and screenwriter, television producer, and an actor on stage, television and film.
Williams was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his play ...
- Eustace Baylor
*
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...
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 best known for '' M.A.N.T.I.S.'' (1994–1997) and has also had television roles on '' Cagney & Lacey'' (1982–1988) and '' Alias'' (2001–2006).
He has also had roles in v ...
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. Turnin ...
- Eustace Baylor
* Marilyn Coleman
*
Ralph Carter
Ralph David Carter (born May 30, 1961) is an American actor and singer, best remembered as Michael Evans, the youngest child of Florida and James Evans Sr., on the CBS sitcom ''Good Times'' from 1974 to 1979. Before joining ''Good Times'', Cart ...
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 best known for '' M.A.N.T.I.S.'' (1994–1997) and has also had television roles on '' Cagney & Lacey'' (1982–1988) and '' Alias'' (2001–2006).
He has also had roles in v ...
)
* 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 producer-actor Robert Hooks, playwright Douglas Turner Ward, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundatio ...