Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance 1920-1940

<p>This compilation of sixteen plays written during the Harlem Renaissance brings together for the first time the works of Langston Hughes George S. Schuyler Francis Hall Johnson Shirley Graham and others. In the introduction James V. Hatch sets the plays in a historical context as he describes the challenges presented to artists by the political and social climate of the time. The topics of the plays cover the realm of the<br />human experience in styles as wide-ranging as poetry farce comedy tragedy social realism and romance. Individual introductions to each play provide essential biographical background on the playwrights.<br /><br />In the continuing rediscovery of writers and works from the Harlem Renaissance Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance 1920-1940 serves as essential background for contemporary readers and is a valuable contribution to African American literary and theatrical  scholarship.</p>