Jim Crow Onstage: Three Black Actresses in Alice Childress’s Plays

Abstract

Abstract:The exclusion of black actresses in theatre, in fact, symbolizes the marginalization of black women in society. This essay studies three black actresses in Childress’s plays, Florence (1949), Trouble in Mind: A Comedy-Drama in Two Acts (1955), and Moms: A Praise Play for a Black Comedienne (1987), to see how they are oppressed and then resist sexism and racism in theatre and society…. These three women devote themselves to acting and performances; however, because of racial and gender bias against them, they are positioned on the periphery of American theatre.