doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee


Ben Caldwell

BEN CALDWELL

  (1937 - )
Nationality:    African American
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Playwright, essayist, and graphic artist. Born in Harlem, New York City, one of nine children. attended the School of Industrial Arts in New York City, with the intent of becoming a commercial artist, but left school in 1954, after the death of his father, to support his family. the author of more than 20 short plays in the black revolutionary agitprop style of the late 1960s, written largely under the influence of aMIRI BaRaKa (LeRoi Jones) and his repertory group formerly known as the Spirit House Movers. Caldwell's plays have been produced at Spirit House in Newark, NJ; by the Black Arts alliance on the West Coast; and throughout the United States, including Off-Broadway. He is the author, with askia Muhammad Toure, of Juju (Magic Songs for the Black Nation (1970). address (in 1988): do Third World Cultural Center, 400 e. 167th St., Bronx, NY 10456.

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of Ben Caldwell's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         All White Caste; After the Seperation         Birth Of A Blues!         Family Portrait, Or My Son the Black Nationalist         Fanatic, The; Or, Testifyin'         First Militant Preacher         Great New York City Crisis, The         Hypnotism         Job, The         King Of Soul, The; Or, The Devil And Otis Redding         Love         Mission Accomplished         Moms         Obscene Play (For Adults Only), An         Prayer Meeting; Or, The First Militant Minister         Rape         Recognition         Rights And Reason         Riot Sale; Or, Dollar Psyche Fake Out         Runaround         Seven Principles, The         Top Secret; Or, A Few Million After Bc         Unprecedented: What Needs To be done         Un-Presidential; Or, What Needs To Be Done         Wall, The         What Is Going On         World Of Ben Caldwell, The         Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

All White Caste; After the Seperation

Synopsis:
Rejected by blacks and hated by whites, the white liberal becomes the "nigger" of the future, condemned to life imprisonment in a Harlem ghetto

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Offbway By Nff, Opening Nov. 23, 1973, On A Program Of Five One-Act Plays, Under The Prodn. Title "What Is Going On"    Nov 1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Black Drama, ed. by Woodie King, Jr. and Ron Milner, New York: Signet, 1971   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
MeloDrama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  1 BM, 2 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Birth Of A Blues!

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "New Plays For Black Theatre" Third World Press 1989   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Family Portrait, Or My Son the Black Nationalist

Synopsis:
the dichotomy that exists between a militant black and his parents.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Offbway By Nff, Opening Nov. 23, 1973, On A Program Of Five One-Act Plays, Under The Prodn. Title "What Is Going On"    Nov 1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in New Plays from the Black theater, ed. by ed Bullins, New York: Bantam, 1969   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Domestic Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 BM, 1 BF

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Fanatic, The; Or, Testifyin'

Synopsis:
the "spirit" at a black church causes white man to confess to the evils and wrongdoings he has inflicted upon blacks

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Unpub. script in the Hatch-Billops Collection,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Morality Play One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  1 BM, 1 WM, 1 WF, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

First Militant Preacher

First Militant Preacher
begins with the sounds of a young man breaking into an apartment that he quickly realizes is that of a local preacher. While this fellow is in the midst of robbing the place, the preacher comes home and, before stopping to notice that anything is amiss, falls onto his knees to ask God for guidance about how to deal with the more militant members of his flock. the burglar, hiding in the bedroom, is only too happy to oblige; what follows is a hilarious and pointed account of how the world may have gotten its first militant preacher.
nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Black Theatre USA: Plays By African Americans volume Two" published by Free Press 1996    978-0684823072

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Great New York City Crisis, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Black Theatre Alliance Theatre, Ny    1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Unpub. script in the FSWW archives/Schomburg Collection,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Hypnotism

Synopsis:
Ridicules the philosophy of nonviolence as another device used by whites to "hypnotize" blacks in order to keep them under contro

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
afro-arts anthology, Newark, N.J.: Jihad Productions, 1966   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Didactic Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  1 BM, 1 BF, 2 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Job, The

Synopsis:
the condescending attitude of white man costs him his life

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Offbway By Nff, Opening Nov. 23, 1973, On A Program Of Five One-Act Plays, Under The Prodn. Title "What Is Going On"    1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Drama Review, vol. 12, no. 4, Summer, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Ritual Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  5 BM, 2 BF, 1 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

King Of Soul, The; Or, The Devil And Otis Redding

Synopsis:
the manipulation of the career of Otis Redding and the events surrounding his death. Modern version of the Faust legend, in which a black soul singer achieves fame and fortune by making a deal with the White devil

Notes:
written 1967

1st Produced:
Black Arts / West    1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in New Plays from the Black theater, ed. by ed Bullins, New York: Bantam, 1969   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Morality Ritual One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  6 BM, 1 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Love

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Prod Kasisi Yusef Iman Weusi Kuumba Theatre Troupe, New York    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Mission Accomplished

Synopsis:
Ridicules the work of white missionaries in Africa.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1967

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Drama Review, vol. 12, no. 4, Summer, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Satire One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4 BM, 1 WM, 2 WF

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Moms

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1987

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy with music

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Obscene Play (For Adults Only), An

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1971

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in alafia, Winter, 1971   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Prayer Meeting; Or, The First Militant Minister

Synopsis:
an "Uncle Tom" preacher is converted into a black militant by a thief posing as the voice of God. Caldwell's most popular play

Notes:
also cited frequently by subtitle Alone, And As the First Militant Preacher

1st Produced:
Spirit House Movers, Newark, N.J    1967

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Black Fire, ed. by LeRoi Jones and Larry Neal, New York: Morrow, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 BM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Rape

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bedford-Stuyvesant Theatre, Brooklyn, Ny    Oct 1971

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Recognition

Synopsis:
God assesses the cause of the black man's problems and gives advice as to possible solutions

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Unpub. script in the Hatch-Billops Collection,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Morality Ritual One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  3-5 black voices, 2-4 white voices

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Rights And Reason

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Offbway By Nff, Opening Nov. 23, 1973, On A Program Of Five One-Act Plays, Under The Prodn. Title "What Is Going On"    1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Riot Sale; Or, Dollar Psyche Fake Out

Synopsis:
a white policeman breaks up a mob of black freedom rioters by shooting money into the crowd

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1966

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Drama Review, vol.12, no.4, Summer, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  10-15 B, 5-10 W

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Runaround

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Third World House    1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Seven Principles, The

Synopsis:
dramatises the seven principles of the black value system called the Nguso Saba.

Notes:
written by Ben Caldwell and Yusef Inman

1st Produced:
Black Theatre Alliance, NYC    Summer 1974

Organisations:
Weusi Kuumba Troupe

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length historical pangeant

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Top Secret; Or, A Few Million After Bc

Synopsis:
Criticizes birth-control (B.C.) schemes as devices used by whites to eliminate the black population.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Pasla (The Performing Arts Soc. Of Los Angeles)    1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Drama Review, vol. 12, no. 4, Summer, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  6 BM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Unprecedented: What Needs To be done

Synopsis:
depicts a standoff between a revolutionary spokesperson and an American president.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Un-Presidential; Or, What Needs To Be Done

Synopsis:
Spokesman for civil rights group has a bold and surprising confrontation with U. S. president

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  3 BM, 6-8 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Wall, The

Synopsis:
Concerns a grafitti wall and its different effects on blacks and whites.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1967

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Scripts, vol. I, no. 7, May, 1972   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  3 BM, 2 BF, 2 WM, 1 WF, teenagers

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

What Is Going On

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Nft, New York    Nov 1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
one act revolutionary plays

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

World Of Ben Caldwell, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Off-Bway By Nft    1982

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
series of skits and monologues, making a full length prodn

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Synopsis:
a presentation of the black experience-past, present, and future. Subtitled: the 7 Principles

Notes:
written by Ben Caldwell And Yusef Iman

1st Produced:
Weusi Kuumba Troupe, The East, New York    1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Didactic Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large black

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page