The daily worker., 1934-05-09
Negro Actors in
the Theatre Union
Play, "SteVedore"
R GEORGE sKLAR
lCo-authox Of "stevedore'l

ADt-AbthuN 1t epeFbuofe
WHEN the Theatre Union started
" It's casting of Negro actors for
"Stevedore" it vas warned repeat
edly by those who knew" that it
would have it's hands full. The
usual bromides about Negroes were
mouthed again and again. Negroes
were inferior actors; they couldn't
learn their lines; they we're slow in
setting their stage business; they
couldn't do anything unless they
were told: they we're unreliable
and to depend on them to give a
performance with only four weeks
to rehearse in was absurd" They
cited examples: Run Lii Chillun"
rehearsed for months; so did -Four
Saints" so did Brain Sweat"
AS a mstter of fact most Negro
shows do rehearse for months. The
Equity Association allows them to
be done on non-Equity basis.
There are no union restrictions.
Amateur actors are picked up and
worked day and night for months,
exploited as all Negro workers are
exploited and paid in sandwiches
and coffee.
From the first day Of rehearsal
when the script was read to the
cast by the director, Michael Blank
fort, the Negroes threw themselves
heart and soul into rehearsals, de-
termined to make it success. They
could believe in this play. They
could be themselves" as Rex In
gram. one of the actors, expressed
1t. They could project an idea and
feeling which they themselves
shared. For the first time in the
history of the American stage the
Negro could be the hero; the Negro
could have his say. AS another
actor put 1t. They could act at
last in a play which dug deep in the
real roots of the Negro problem"
throughout the rehearsal period
the Negro actors we're cooperative
responsive and alert. They hardly
ever left the stage. Even when not
in the scene being rehearsed on
stage, they would react with the
other actors to the situation. When
the actors on stage sang a spiritual
from the play, those on the side
lines Joined them. During the
most strenuous nights when scenes
had to be done over and over to
set and time the detail Of such an
elaborate scene as the building OF
the barricade, they would revitalise
every one on stage by bursting into
spontaneous song during five min
ute rests.
Unlike their experience in Broad
v way plays, they felt at home
with the Theatre Union. They could
say and do what they pleased, II
they felt dissatisfied with some
thing that was happening, they felt
free to say so. And they did, One
instance stands out. When the
Green Pastures" company returned
from Toronto, it was decided tt
change one of the actors in the casi
who wasn't quite coming through
for better-known player ir
Green Pastures" AS soon as the
cast found out about it, number
of the leading actors went to the
director and authors. They pointed
out that this actor had just re-
turned from a four-year tour at q
high salary, while the other actor
needed both the money and the at
tention that such a part would give
him. And they were convinced that
he would also give a better per-
formance if given the chance. Thai
actor has since been singled out fol
special mention by every critic.
There is no Jim Grow in the
Theatre Union. Negro actors share
dressing rooms with white actors
Negroes sit everywhere in the au-
diences. People who call up ovel
the telephone and ask for seats
apart from the Negroes are tolc
bluntly that granting such request
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