Thunder on the Stage

Bruce Allen Dick is a professor of English at Appalachian State University. He is the author of A Poet's Truth: Conversations with Latino and Latina Poets and coauthor of American Soccer: History, Culture, Class.

"Dick's thorough biographical research unearths the overlooked role theater played in Wright's life and work. . . . Wright scholars will appreciate the fresh angle on the oft-studied writer." --Publishers Weekly"Thunder on the Stage is a treasure trove of exciting riches for Richard Wright scholars and readers invested in twentieth-century theatre, performance, and film history. Expertly crafted and thoroughly researched from multiple archives and print sources, it delivers a revelatory excavation of Wright's known involvement with established theatrical companies and his little-known excursions into playwriting while also demonstrating his career-long interest in the stage and usage of dramatic works and authors, including Shakespeare. In this pathbreaking study, Bruce Dick gifts us with a fresh, formidable, and astute literary analysis of the processes and inspirations of a major author we thought we knew."--Thadious M. Davis, author of Southscapes: Geographies of Race, Region, and Literature

• ForewordPreface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I. Thunder on the Stage: The American Years 1 The Ethics of Acting Jim Crow 2 From Minstrelsy to Shakespeare to Authentic Black Theater: Playwrights, Writers, Critics, and Inter-textual Play 3 Distant Thunder: Wright, the Federal Theatre, and Early Attempts at Writing Plays 4 Native Son on Stage 5 Orator, Performer, and Stage Writer Pursuing Social Change 6 Boxing Jim Crow Part II. The Last Lampoon: Years Abroad 7 Reconstructing Identity: The Influence of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, and Others 8 Acting Bigger Thomas 9 "Daddy Goodness": Richard Wright's Last Lampoon Conclusion Notes Index