AMIRI BARAKA (1934 - )
| Nationality: | American |
| Literary Agent: *: | |
| Email: | n/a |
| Website: | n/a |
* If shown, click on the literary agent's name for full contact details and links to all the Playwrights they represent.
Plays by Amiri Baraka
8th Ditch, The |
| 1st Produced: | New Bowery Theatre, NYC | 1964 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | first in "Floating Bear" then in "The System of Dante's Hell" , Grove, New York | 1965 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: aka Dante | ||||
Synopsis: Set in a US Army Camp, 1947, a valueless inhuman melee reflects the morass of inner conflict, when the self behaves with lack of good counsel. | ||||
America More Or Less |
| 1st Produced: | San Francisco | 1976 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Chin and Silko, music Greco, lyrics Weinstein | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Arm Yourself And Harm Yourself |
| 1st Produced: | Spirit House, Newark, NJ | 1967 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Jihad Productions, Newark, NJ | 1967 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Street Theatre Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | cops | |||
Notes: aka Arm Yrself or Harm Yrself | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
At The Dim'crackr Convention |
| 1st Produced: | New York | 1980 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
B.P. Chant |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Black Theatre, no 5" | 1971 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Agit Prop | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Baptism, The |
| 1st Produced: | WPA Theatre, New York City | 1964 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "The Best Plays of 1963-64" Dodd, Mead | 1964 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual Morality Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | chorus of women | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: The black church is shown as a hypocritical institution, in which a homosexual is the only person capable of acknowledging his perversion. | ||||
BA-RA-KA |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1972 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Spontaneous Combustion" Winter House | 1972 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual | One Act | Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 4 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: aka Resurrection Of Life | ||||
Synopsis: Genesis of playwright and of his black race | ||||
Black Mass, A |
| 1st Produced: | Proctors Theatre, Newark, NJ | 1966 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Four Black Revolutionary Plays" Bobbs-Merrill | 1969 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual | One Act | Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 |
| Parts Other: | 1 BFast | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: An evil white beast is accidentally created by a black magician. | ||||
Black Power Chant |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Black Theatre, no 4" | 1971 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Bloodrites |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ | 1970 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Black Drama" Signet, New York | 1971 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 10-14 mixed cast | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Subjugation by the white devils is overcome by blacks as they retain their physical and cultural diversity. | ||||
Board Of Education |
| 1st Produced: | Spirit House, Newark, NJ | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Boy And Tarzan Appear In A Clearing |
| 1st Produced: | New York | 1981 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Present day African leaders as corrupt and greedy having learned from white colonists. | ||||
Columbia The Gem Of The Ocean |
| 1st Produced: | Spirit House, Newark, NJ | 1973 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | Mime Play | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: background of slide projections | ||||
Synopsis: Effort to free black minds from the evils of Euro-Americanism and to build a Black solidarity | ||||
Coronation Of The Black Queen, The |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1970 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Black Scholar, 1, 8 | 1970 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A piece modelled after African ceremonies | ||||
Dante |
| 1st Produced: | New York | 1961 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | first in "Floating Bear" then in "The System of Dante's Hell" , Grove, New York | 1965 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: aka The Eight Ditch | ||||
Synopsis: Set in a US Army Camp, 1947, a valueless inhuman melee reflects the morass of inner conflict, when the self behaves with lack of good counsel. | ||||
Death Of Malcom X |
| 1st Produced: | Spirit House, Newark, NJ | 1969 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "New Plays from the Black Theatre" Bantam, Ny | 1969 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Historical Ritual | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 21-26 mixed cast | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: The murder of Malcolm X by white conspirators is explored. | ||||
Dutchman |
| 1st Produced: | Playwrights Unit, NYC | 1964 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | (with The Slave) Morrow, New York | 1964 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Set inside an underground train violent verbal confrontation evolves between white woman and black bourgeois intellectual who she eventually stabs. | ||||
Election Machine Warehouse, The |
| 1st Produced: | - | - | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Simon & Schuster, NY | 1997 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Experimental Death Unit #1 |
| 1st Produced: | St. Marks Playhouse, NYC | 1965 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | first in "East Side Review" then in "Four Black Revolutionary Plays" Bobbs-Merrill | 1969 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: The penalty for two white men caught with a black prostitute is death at the hand of two black soldiers | ||||
General Hag's Skeezag |
| 1st Produced: | - | - | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in Black Thunder New York. New York, Mentor | 1992 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Good Girl Is Hard To Find, A |
| 1st Produced: | Montclair, New Jersey | 1958 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: Possibly produced at Sterlington House, Bloomfield, New Jersey (advertised in Yugen) | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Great Goodness Of Life: A Coon Show |
| 1st Produced: | Tambellinis Gate, NYC | 1967 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Four Black Revolutionary Plays" Bobbs-Merrill | 1969 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual | One Act | Parts: | Male | 8 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Black father's attempts to redeem himself for allegedly contributing to his son's death. | ||||
Home On The Range |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ, NYC | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Drama Review, 12, 4 (summer), NY | 1968 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Absurd Comedy | One Act | Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 4 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A collage of satire on white America that ends with the blacks surviving the apocalypse | ||||
Insurrection |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
J-E-L-L-O |
| 1st Produced: | Black Arts Group, NYC | 1965 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Third World Press, Chicago | 1970 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Comedy Drama | Comedy | Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Celebrates the birth of the Black Race | ||||
Junkies Are Full Of (SHHH. . .) |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ | 1970 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Black Drama" Signet, New York | 1971 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 12 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Black nationalists kill white drug pushers and overdose their black informer in example to the rest of the community. | ||||
Madheart: A Morality Play |
| 1st Produced: | San Francisco, CA | 1967 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Black Fire", Morrow, New York | 1968 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play | One Act | Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 4 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Black man and four women renounce their patterns of life which have been conducted under white mores. | ||||
Money: A Jazz Opera |
| 1st Produced: | New York | 1982 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with George Gruntz | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Motion Of History, The |
| 1st Produced: | New York Theatre Ensemble, NYC | 1977 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "The Motion of History and other Plays", Morrow, New York | 1978 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Epic | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | Large Cast | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Epic portrayal of racial conflict and social injustice throughout American history | ||||
New Ark's A Moverin |
| 1st Produced: | Newark | 1974 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Police |
| 1st Produced: | NYC | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Drama Review, 12, 4 | 1968 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Ritual | One Act | Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 |
| Parts Other: | extras, cops | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Black community wants an end to the black-and-white, police-killing-black-people cycle. | ||||
Primitive World |
| 1st Produced: | New York | 1984 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: music by David Murray | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Recent Killing, A |
| 1st Produced: | 1973 | |||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | 3 Act | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | 17 | Female | 4 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: About evolution and the development of airman Pearson from poet to activist. | ||||
Revolt Of The Moonflowers |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1959 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: Non extant | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Rockgroup |
| 1st Produced: | - | - | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Cricket, December | 1969 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
S-1 |
| 1st Produced: | Afro-American Studio, NYC | 1976 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "The Motion of History and other Plays", Morrow, New York | 1978 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Didactic drama | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | Large Cast | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A constitutional amendment to restrict civil rights unites various left-wing groups in their opposition | ||||
Sidnee Poet Heroical, The |
| 1st Produced: | New York | 1975 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Reed, New York | 1979 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Satirical comedy | Satire | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | Large Cast | |||
Notes: includes film clips, speaking chorus and music. aka If In Danger Of Suit, The Kid Poet Heroical | ||||
Synopsis: Black nationalist play based on the life and times of the actor Sidney Poitier | ||||
Slave Ship |
| 1st Produced: | Newark, NJ, NYC | 1969 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Jihad Productions, Newark, NJ | 1967 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Historical Pageant | - | Parts: | Male | 7 | Female | 3 |
| Parts Other: | extras, dancers, musicians | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Dramatic pageant on the horrors of slavery. | ||||