The scene begins with a movement sequence between the Duchess and Jesus, similar to that between the Duchess and the Queen, in which the two characters sit on a bench, attempting to brush the shreds of hair left on their heads. The theme of death is also prominent in the play. Wherever he goes, he carries black masks and heads. As she goes out, the curtain rises, revealing the Duchess of Hapsburg and Queen Victoria in the Queen's bedroom. She looked like a white woman. Upgrade to PRO
[6] Kennedy uses whiteface to interrogate perceptions of whiteness, a signifying strategy. Kennedy contributed her female voice to this movement by using the tactics of artists involved in the movement, such as reinventing language and forms, and by representing the experiences of black womenn. The play opens with a dreamlike sequence of a woman in a white nightgown with long, dark hair crossing the stage. Kennedy references blackface by using transracial mimicry. Around this room are the various rooms that are the settings for other scenes of the play. Upgrade to PRO Sign Up for PRO to view suggested audition pieces!
Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Through Sarah is in whiteface, her "wild kinky hair" is highlighted, reminding the audience of who is beneath the mask. Join the StageAgent community
[6] This is also a reminder of the miscegenated reality of blacks and whites in America. Role in the Black Arts Movement and legacy, Petrusso, A. [6], Funnyhouse of a Negro addresses the themes of racial identity and mixed ancestry, as seen through the four manifestations of Sarah's self. Patrice Lumumba
everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Funnyhouse of a Negro. Jersey Boys
Kennedy was born Adrienne Hawkins on September 13, 1931, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sarah's Landlady [7] Her hair underscores the idea Sarah tried to disavow, then kill, the African-American part of her heritage. The Mother, Funnyhouse of a Negro is a one-act play by Adrienne Kennedy.
In the center of the stage is the bedroom of a young Negro woman, Sarah. "[5] Lumumba's speech ends with the claim that Sarah's father tried to hang himself in a Harlem hotel, but leaves ambiguity as to whether the suicide was successful.
Education system/Lack of Education The play takes place in Sarah's mind, with her room as a symbol for her obsession with whiteness. She was raised in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, where her father worked as a social worker and her mother was a schoolteacher.
Jesus
The two characters discuss the Duchess' father, who is actually Sarah's father, as the Duchess is an extension of Sarah. This scene introduces us to the motif of hair, which recurs throughout the play. Finally, they say that they are bound to the father unless he dies. New York, NY, Twelve Angry Men
Jesus appears, surrounded by the rest of the characters, all with nimbuses on their heads "in a manner to suggest that they are saviors". ", movement to sustain or rebuild ties with Africa, Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University, "eversing Blackface Minstrelsy, Improvising Racial Identity: Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro", "Funnyhouse Of A Negro. After Funnyhouse of a Negro won the Obie Award for Distinguished Play in 1964, Kennedy's work gained force not only within the Black Arts Movement but also among aspiring black female playwrights.
Hair defines the characters and illustrates Sarah's fate. Race/Gender and Power Social Movements: - Black = Men - Women = White Desire to escape passivity of womanness Surrealism and Layered Meaning Reference to blood We only provide suggested audition monologues or songs for an individual character if our system finds content that matches a character's traits. 0. ", MLA Carter, Steven. They both wear headpieces that conceal mounds of wild, curly black hair.
The female fragments of Sarah's self are white European elegance and royalty, while the black fragments of herself are masculine martyrs. "ADRIENNE KENNEDY (1931– ). Kennedy's play seeks to deconstruct and disempower "thing white thing" by showing audiences haunting and perverse images of whiteness. [5] This gives the audience an understanding of the permeability of the set, as it constantly takes on new forms for its various inhabitants. A knocking is heard and continues throughout the scene. Kennedy began writing plays a… "Overview of 'Funnyhouse of a Negro'. Funnyhouse of a Negro takes place in Sarah’s mind, allowing the audience to witness the anxiety, entrapment, and alienation of being a black woman in the United States. Funnyhouse of a Negro encourages the audience to see black woman separately from the stereotypical independent black woman.
[3] She expresses fear of being raped by her father because she believes he raped her mother.
He had raped the Duchess's mother, and both women feel... Get Funnyhouse of a Negro from Amazon.com. Additionally, the Queen and Duchess symbolize power, but are used to de-romanticize idealized perceptions of whiteness.
He also explains that Sarah's black father was given mixed messages about his identity by his parents.
0. This also ties into Sarah's obsession with her hair.
"[5] All of the characters run around the stage laughing and screaming until the blackout. Before the play begins, a white woman in a white nightgown with long, straight black hair crosses the stage mumbling. Sarah also reveals her desire to kill her father, also seeking to kill the blackness inside of her.
All of Sarah's selves are dead historical figures, and Sarah is haunted by the image of her father's death and mother's plight into insanity. The play uses masks, hair, and its set and props to evoke the mixed cultures being represented. [4] Funnyhouse of a Negro takes place in Sarah’s mind, allowing the audience to witness the anxiety, entrapment, and alienation of being a black woman in the United States. The landlady says that Sarah hasn't left her room since her father's death, and that Sarah claims her father did not actually hang himself, but rather, she "bludgeoned his head with an ebony skull that he carries about with him. The father is portrayed in a way in which his touch is fatal, driving Sarah's mother to lose her sanity and ultimately driving Sarah to her own suicide.
The Black Arts Movement in America was the "aesthetic and spiritual sister to the Black Power concept. [3] Sexuality reveals itself through the Duchess and Jesus' interactions, as well as her interaction with Sarah's boyfriend, Raymond.
"[4] The movement was dominated by masculine influences and an element of violence. "[5], Sexuality is not prevalent in the play, as Sarah is repulsed by and fears to form any sort of union with her father. A white curtain opens, revealing Sarah's bedroom. Adrienne Kennedy, Raymond is also called “The Funnyman,” and lives in the same. There is also a persistent knocking sound in the background for the rest of the play, representing the father's attempts to return to Sarah's life. When Kennedy entered Ohio State University in 1949, she experienced racism for the first time. [3] The opening sequence of the play presents deathly imagery, as the white curtain is described as being made of "a cheap material and a ghastly white, a material that brings to mind the interior of a cheap casket.
Aside from the fact that her other selves are a ghostly white color, the way Sarah worships her mother for her light skin and long hair points to an obsession with whiteness. Order our Funnyhouse of a Negro Study Guide, teaching or studying Funnyhouse of a Negro. Additionally, Funnyhouse of a Negro demonstrates global citizenship from multiple perspectives: as Africans, as Americans, as women, and as women of color. His mother wanted him to go to Africa and save the race, while his father told him that "the race was no damn good. "[5] He then says that her father never actually hanged himself, but rather, he is a doctor and married to a white woman, living the life that Sarah dreamed of having. They enact a conversation between Sarah and her father, in which he seeks forgiveness for being black, and Sarah asks him why he raped her mother then states how she wants to "bludgeon him with an ebony head. [3] This helps relay the theme of both mental and literal imperialism in the play, as Sarah's mind and body are violated by foreign elements. to read our character analysis for Raymond and unlock other amazing theatre resources!
The landlady enters and tells a story about how Sarah's father asked her for forgiveness for being black, and she would not give him forgiveness.
The landlady helps the audience to understand Sarah's situation, explaining how her father killed himself when Patrice Lumumba was killed. To demonstrate this internal struggle, Kennedy transforms the stage into a manifestation of Sarah's mind and uses historical figures to represent Sarah's mixed black and white ancestry.
Funnyhouse of a Negro - Play. The two women discuss whiteness, with the Queen stating, "My mother was the light.
Funnyhouse of the Negro demonstrates how a person can be emotionally and mentally damaged by something that didn’t directly involve them.
*Our system only provides suggested monologues or songs for select characters if we have matching monologues and song information in our database. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, See more characters from
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Sarah experiences self-hatred because of her blackness and what it represents in her life: her father; the man who raped her mother. Raymond Kennedy's female perspective was a rarity for the time and the movement.
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