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A Selection of Theater Programs
from the Melvin B. Tolson Papers
The programs below show that Tolson fulfilled the
intent of the Dust Bowl Dream. From Sartre and Ibsen
to Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry, the
Players brought mainstream hits to their audiences,
as well as the promised 'home-grown' theater with
plays written by Tolson himself. His adaptation of
"Fire in the Flint" by Walter White was performed at
the NAACP convention of 1952. The text of three of
his own plays can be found via our
Click through the image for a larger view
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GHOSTS
by Henrik Ibsen May 8, 1950 Phi Psi Chapter Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. presents The Dust Bowl Players Langston University
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The Heiress by Ruth Goodman Goetz & Augustus Goetz May 7, 1951 The Dust Bowl Players Langston University
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The Ghost Train
by Arnold RIdley May 16, 1954 The Dust Bowl Players Langston University |
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The Ghost Bird by Neil E. Schaffner n.d. The Dust Bowl Players Langston University
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Three Religious Plays
"The Answer" "Winter Sunset" "Sunshine Lady" March 5, 1951 The Dust Bowl Players present The Mt. Sinai Players |
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No Exit
by Jean-Paul Sartre (adapted by Paul Bowles) May 27, 1955 The Dust Bowl Players Langston University |
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The Dust Bowl Players
Present the World Off-Broadway Premiere of Simply Heavenly November 5th, 1955 Lyrics: Langston Hughes Music: David Martin Langston
University
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Lost Horizon
by Anne Coulter Martens & Christopher Sergel May 20, 1961 The Dust Bowl Players Langston University |
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Dial "M" for Murder
by Frederick Knott May 26, 1962 The Dust Bowl Players Langston University |
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A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry May 24, 1963 The Dust Bowl Players Langston University |
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from the Dust Bowl programs: The Negro's place in the field of drama has been under the shadow of Old Jim Crow. Where is the black Eugene O'Neill? The Anton Chekov? The J.M. Synge? Until that question is answered the Negro people shall not have reached intellectual maturity in America. The theater is the caviar of a people's culture. Sterling Brown says: "Only one Negro play of complete Negro authorhsip has had a Broadway run." So the Dust Bowl Players will entertain you with hits from the Great White Way. Later on, they hope to give you some genuine Negro drama made at home. You remember what Paul Green and the Carolina Players did at Chapel Hill - how they caused the critics and the tophats to look in that direction? Well, out here in the Dust Bowl some Negro playwrights and actors and theatergoers are going to "let down their buckets where they are." And we won't be alone! There is a drama renaissance in Negro colleges like Dillard, Florida A & M, Fisk, Tuskegee, Tennessee State, Lincoln, Howard. Since we must start from scratch, you dear patron, will have to help us scratch! So a merry evening to one and all!
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