The New Playwrights' Theatre production of the play, 'Hoboken Blues,' in 1928 was a bold experiment that failed because it appeared to be racist although it was written to expose the plight of blacks. The author Michael Gold wanted Negroes to play all the parts, but director Edward Massey used white players wearing blackface. Gold's own conceptions of racism and history also created contradictions in the play.
Hoboken Blues: or The Black Rip Van Winkle: A Modern Negro Fantasia on an Old ...
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