The Gospel According to James and Other Plays

Charles R. Smith

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9780821444214
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

This collection of five award-winning plays by Charles Smith includes Jelly Belly, Free Man of Color, Pudd'nhead Wilson, Knock Me a Kiss, and The Gospel According to James. Powerful, provocative, and entertaining, these plays have been produced by professional theater companies across the country and abroad. Four of the plays are based on historical people and events from W.E.B. Du Bois and Countee Cullen to the Harlem Renaissance. Accurate in the way they capture the political and cultural milieu of their historical settings, and courageous in the way they grapple with difficult questions such as race, education, religion, and social class, these plays jump off the page just as powerfully as they come to life on stage. This first-ever collection from one of the nation's leading African American playwrights is a journey down the complex road of race and history.

PUDD’NHEAD WILSON

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Pudd’nhead Wilson was commissioned and produced by The Acting Company, Margot Harley, producing director. The production was directed by Walter Dallas, with set design by Juliana von Haubrich, costume design by Andre Harrington, lighting design by Dennis Parichy, and original music and sound design by Obadiah Eaves. Douglas Langworthy was the dramaturg, and Cole P. Bonenberger was the production stage manager.

This production opened in 2001 at the College of Staten Island Center for the Arts in Staten Island, New York, before embarking on a twenty-two-city national tour. The tour ended when the production opened Off Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2002.

	Chambers	Michael Abbott Jr.
	Bailiff/Man 3	Spencer Aste
	Howard	Bryan Cogman
	Tom	Jimonn Cole
	Cecil/Man 2	Christian Conn
	Judge Driscoll	Michael Lluberes
	Reporter	Katherine Puma
	Angelo/Lou/Man 1	Thom Rivera
	Joe/Luigi	John Livingstone Rolle
	Roxy	Roslyn Ruff
	Rowena	Jordan Simmons
	Nancy	Christen Simon
	Pudd’nhead Wilson	Coleman Zeigen

Roslyn Ruff as Roxy and Michael Abbott Jr. as Chambers in The Acting Company’s production of Pudd’nhead Wilson. Photo by Ken Howard.

Jimonn Cole as Tom and Michael Abbott Jr. as Chambers in The Acting Company’s production of Pudd’nhead Wilson. Photo by Ken Howard.

Roslyn Ruff as Roxy and Jimonn Cole as Tom in The Acting Company’s production of Pudd’nhead Wilson. Photo by Ken Howard.

Coleman Zeigen as Pudd’nhead Wilson and Roslyn Ruff as Roxy in The Acting Company’s production of Pudd’nhead Wilson. Photo by Ken Howard.

Characters

Pudd’nhead Wilson	Forty-year-old white male.
Judge Percy Driscoll	Fifty-year-old white male.
Judge Howard	Fifty-year-old white male.
Chambers	White male in his twenties. The same actor also plays MAN THREE.
Angelo	White male. The same actor plays MAN ONE and LOU.
Cecil	White male. The same actor plays MAN TWO.
Tom	African American male in his twenties. The same actor also plays JIM.
Luigi	African American male. The same actor also plays JOE.
Roxy	African American female in her forties.
Nancy	African American female.
Rowena	White female in her twenties.

Time: 1830 through 1855.

Place: In and about the town of Dawson’s Landing, Missouri.

Production Note: The actors who play Tom and Luigi should be obviously African American. The blacker, the better. Likewise, the actor who plays Chambers should be obviously Caucasian. The whiter, the blonder, the better. No attempt should be made to make the race of these characters adhere to the awareness of the other characters in the play.

PUDD’NHEAD WILSON

A Stage Adaptation and Reinterpretation of the Mark Twain Novel

A play in two acts

ACT ONE

PUDD’NHEAD WILSON is alone on stage. He addresses the audience.

WILSON: Wilson is my name. David Wilson. I was named David by my father, Earl Mark Wilson of Buffalo, New York. Although my father was not a religious man, he was familiar with the story of David. You know David. Old Testament. Armed with only a slingshot and a few stones, David single-handedly slew the giant Goliath who was the champion of the Philistines. That’s me. David. Slayer of the champion of the Philistines. Remember that. David Wilson.

NANCY, a slave woman, enters.

NANCY: Hey, Pudd’nhead.

WILSON: Not Pudd’nhead Wilson.

NANCY: You’s a Pudd’nhead, alright. No mistake ’bout dat.

WILSON: What did you say?

NANCY: Ah said, ’cuse me, Marster Wilson. Ya feelin’ alright?

WILSON: What d’you want?

NANCY: Judge Howard sent me out heah to fetch ya inside, sir.

WILSON: Tell Judge Howard that I’m happy right where I am, thank you.

NANCY: But it’s warm inside, Marster Wilson.

WILSON: But the company is better out here.

NANCY: What company?

She looks around.

Ya sho ya feeling alright, Marster Wilson?

WILSON: I’m feeling fine, Nancy.

NANCY: Den ya mind if Ah ax ya sumthin’?

WILSON: Ask me anything you’d like.

NANCY: Who ya out heah conversating wid?

WILSON: Nobody.

NANCY: You’s holding a mighty heavy discourse to be conversating wid nobody.

WILSON: It’s too com...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• JELLY BELLY
• KNOCK ME A KISS
• PUDD’NHEAD WILSON
• FREE MAN OF COLOR
• THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES