" When you sit down to write, you have to be prepared to strip all of those voices away, all of the censors away, and talk about what you think the truth is, which I think is really the task of the writer - to get to the truth."
" When you sit down to write, you have to be prepared to strip all of those voices away, all of the censors away, and talk about what you think the truth is, which I think is really the task of the writer - to get to the truth."
"Tell me the Truth"
Although on this site we only discuss Pearl Cleage's work as a playwright, she was also a well-known speechwriter in the early 1970s. She was the press secretary and speech writer for Maynard Jackson. She was able to gain popularity for her writings because of Jackson's political position of the first black Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. Through her work experience at places such as the Atlanta Journal- Constitution and the Atlanta Tribune, Cleage grew in status as a prevalent writer. This eventually sparked her aspiration to write plays and because of her growing status, her plays were well recieved by those who were already familiar with her previous works. According to Chris Jones (1998) of the Chicago Tribune, "And if you leave out August Wilson (whose fame occupies a universe all its own), Cleage is the most popular living black playwright of the late 1990s, period." This quote alone displayed the manner in which Cleage was recieved by theater culutre during the time in which she revealed herself as a playwright.
So far we have discussed Pearl Cleage and some of her theatrical works but now we will show you how these works were perceived by an array critics at different productions. Below are play reviews that cover the production of each of the three plays that we have highlighted in the 'Her Works' section of our site.
So far we have discussed Pearl Cleage and some of her theatrical works but now we will show you how these works were perceived by an array critics at different productions. Below are play reviews that cover the production of each of the three plays that we have highlighted in the 'Her Works' section of our site.
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Joel Hirschhorn
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Alvin Klein
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Freda Scott Giles
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