| Native Son | |
|---|---|
 First edition 1941 | |
| Written by | Paul Green Richard Wright |
| Date premiered | March 24, 1941 |
| Place premiered | St. James Theatre New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Chicago, Illinois |
Native Son is a 1941Broadway drama written byPaul Green andRichard Wright based on Wright's novelNative Son. It was produced byOrson Welles andJohn Houseman with Bern Bernard as associate producer and directed by Welles withscenic design by John Morcom. It ran for 114 performances from March 24, 1941 to June 28, 1941 at theSt. James Theatre.
This is the last time Welles and Houseman, co-founders of theMercury Theatre, ever worked together.[1]: 12
In Chicago's South Side during the 1930's, 20-year-old Bigger Thomas struggles to realize his dreams in a world that has shut him out. After taking a job in a wealthy white man's house, Bigger unwittingly unleashes a series of events that violently seal his fate.
Richard Wright and Paul Green editedNative Son's plot to fit the time constraints of a play more easily. Certain parts are edited or cut completely. In the novel, the daughter ofBigger Thomas's employers, Mary, has a communist boyfriend, Jan, whom Bigger tries to blame for Mary's murder. Bigger even tries to collect ransom for Mary's supposedly missing body. He also becomes the Daltons' chauffeur only after a failed robbery attempt of a white man's store. In the drama, these details are erased. It becomes simpler and more objective—Bigger becomes the Daltons' chauffeur because of a social worker. He kills Mary by accident, as in the book, but is shortly found after a manhunt through Chicago.
Green's original script called for Bigger to become devoutly religious at the end of the story, a theme not present in the novel; Wright helped Houseman remove this aspect and did not inform Green. Houseman believed that the religion twist went against Wright's viewpoint.[2]
Newspaper Men:
The 1941 adaptation of the novel was revised in 1978 for the dedication of the Paul Green Theatre at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[3] The script by Green and Wright was adapted again in 2006 byCheryl West for Seattle's Intiman Theatre, however, she withdrew the right to perform it prior to the play's opening. An adaptation by director Kent Gash was presented in its stead.[4] A later adaptation, not based on the Green-Wright script, was written by Nambi E. Kelley in 2016 for a joint production fromAmerican Blues Theater andCourt Theatre in Chicago.[5]
Critics greetedNative Son's 1941 premiere warmly, especially praising Canada Lee's turn as Bigger Thomas. Said Rosamond Gilder inTheatre and Arts, May 1941: " Much of what is important in the novel but is lost in the play -the profound subjective exposure of the Negro's unconscious motivations- is restored by the actor's performance. Bigger's smouldering resentment against the world as he has always known it; his unreflecting violence breaking out even more easily against the things he loves -his mother, his friends, his girl- than against the things he hates; his profound frustration stemming from the denial of his right to live;".[6]The New York Times said it was "powerful" and "exciting".[7]Time called it "the strongest play of the season".[8]
Aljean Harmetz wrote inThe New York Times stated "the play got excellent reviews and did good business."[2]
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