The Green Pastures

New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1929.

Price: $375.00

Hardcover. First edition, trade issue. Spine sunned, else very good or better, lacking the dustwrapper. Very nicely Inscribed by the author, although we have not as yet identified the recipient: "For Michael, my ancient adviser and friend. Marc. Paris, 1930." A very nice copy of the first edition of this fragile play, a musical comedy based on white novelist Roark Bradford's *Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun*, a retelling of Old Testament stories based on the beliefs of Southern African-Americans, and which featured a large cast of African-Americans during its celebrated New York run. Described by Bruce Kellner in *The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary* as "one white writer's version of another white writer's version of one black preacher's version of religion," it nevertheless was well-written and enjoyed enormous popularity, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and running for several years. Despite opposition from Southern theatre owners, Warner Brothers produced an entertaining and successful 1936 film version directed by Connelly, with Rex Ingram as "De Lawd."

Item #98484

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Item #98484 The Green Pastures. Marc CONNELLY.

Marc Connelly
birth name: Marcus Cook Connelly
born: 12/13/1890
died: 12/21/1980

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Biography

American playwright, journalist, teacher, actor, and director, best know for "Green Pastures" (a folk version of the Old Testament dramatized through the lives of blacks of the southern United States) and for the comedies that he wrote with George S. Kaufman. - Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literaturemore

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