Loften Mitchell
Interview with Loften Mitchell author of Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theater published by Hawthorne Books.
Mitchell's resume.
The tree of hope is a symbol of the cultural scene in Harlem. The stump is still there at 131st Street. It's a landmark. Discussion of the prayer at the opening of the book. The early American scene where there was the integration of slavery into drama. Cast and class as part of roles played. Badge of color placed on black people by the power structure to distort their image. Many stereotypes of blacks come from the theater. Minstrelsy was originally done to poke fun at the slave owners and conditions turning a form of protest around to be used against them.
Early theater movement in Harlem. Harlem history is unique and not properly projected or told in the media. Play by Mitchell, "Tell Pharaoh." - A history of Harlem not previously been told. James Weldon Johnson and hope that black people could hold on to Harlem. Chapter: Yesterday - the revolt against minstrelsy. Black writers came up with the forerunner of American Musical pattern. Bandana land - a satire with Blacks buying up land in white neighborhoods and selling it back to them. Broadway reconsidered. Mitchell talks about the American empire at its foulest. Broadway isn't geared to the black experience as we know it. He says there is nothing on MLK in shows or movies. The point is they have not yet told the story of the black experience on this continent, and they don't intend to. Attacks Styron's Confessions of Nat Turner. Calls it 'plain garbage."
He talks about Columbia University's flagrant attack on the black community. The gymnasium protests and now giving Pulitzer to Styron. "White America cannot stand the story of black people on this continent." Why such a short summation in "tomorrow?" We are going to pussyfoot or go to the basics. Which way are we going? I have seen some hopeful signs. The growth of some black theater groups. Lafayette players of the past compared to Negro Ensemble of today. Mitchell feels they're not black enough today.
Hallelujah Baby. Can you imagine a black person writing the history of the Irish in America? They don't know us. They don't know what we're talking about. It wasn't true and badly done. If it were done by black people, it wouldn't have gotten on the stage. Hello, Dolly was a bad play when Thornton Wilder wrote it as The Matchmakers. "Negros in Broadway productions?" They use them when it is convenient, and they make a tidy buck on it. Praises William Branch, Alice Childress, Ossie Davis, Ed Bullins, Ted Ward, Ted Brown, and others. What bothers him is a new stereotype aided and abetted by national leadership -- the need for training. "We're always amateurs."
Synopsis of the history section. History of Harlem is unique and never projected properly by the media. Residents of Harlem was always fearful that they would lose Harlem through gentrification. Can Harlem recapture the greatness of the past?
He believes so. People are coming home. There are ferment and unrest and also the most civil place. A good community. Feels better there than other parts of town. Mitchell says Harlem will develop into the garden spot of NYC again. Discussion of one of his poems. We Americans don't know our history, and we make mistakes and view it through rose colored glasses. If we were truthful, then there could be some real discussions. For example, Black cowboys are never discussed. Refers to an old movie, Harlem on the Range.
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection
WNYC archives id: 150926
Municipal archives id: T5966
