Theodore Ward's Our Lan': From the Slavery of Melodrama to the Freedom of Tragedy

Abstract

American theater history treats Theodore Ward's Our Lan' as a landmark of black artistic achievement, appearing in the cultural landscape in 1947 as if by spontaneous generation.1 What theater historians only hint at is the story behind the landmark, the dynamic process of artistic vision struggling toward exact expression against social expectations and conventional theatrical forms. Telling the untold story of Our Lan'entails a little literary sleuthing, a trek through the multiple drafts of the play. In tracing the development of the play through its different versions, we can see Ward clarifying his vision of the black spirit as he rewrites his play, moving it from the realm of melodrama to the border of tragedy. Before describing the process by which Ward revised Our Lan', let me review the dramatic raw materials that form the building blocks for all the versions of the play-the story lines, the cast of characters, the musical elements, and the historical documents. A survey of these building blocks will not only provide reference points for the rest of this discussion but also help reveal Ward's original intention, for it is embodied in them.