Conversation so far:
What were The Serpent Players?
The Serpent Players were a group of black actors worker-players who earned their living as teachers, clerks, and industrial workers, not considered amateurs in the manner of leisured whites.
What did The Serpent Players do?
The Serpent Players developed and performed plays under surveillance by the Security Police.

Question: Were they successful?
Self-contained rewrite: Were The Serpent Players successful?