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Chapter 15 - The Enduring Charge of August Wilson’s “I Want a Black Director”

from Part II - Politics and Debates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2025

By
Isaiah Matthew Wooden
Edited by
Khalid Y. Long  and
Isaiah Matthew Wooden
Khalid Y. Long
Affiliation:
Howard University, Washington DC
Isaiah Matthew Wooden
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
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Summary

The October 1990 issue of Spin Magazine featured an essay by Wilson, “I Want a Black Director,” in which he described the challenges he encountered while attempting to sell the film rights for Fences in Hollywood. Wilson noted that studio executives were especially hostile to his request to have a Black director helm the project, dismissing it as a sign of the playwright’s naiveté. For Wilson, the disregard he experienced only served to reinforce his view that his work should be directed by artists who, as he put it, shared the sensibilities of Black Americans. This chapter explores the importance of Wilson’s declaration in the essay, contemplating how it proved an important clarion call for the entertainment industry to reevaluate its racist beliefs and hiring practices.

Keywords

August WilsonAmerican Century Cycle“I Want a Black Director”FencesJoe Turner’s Come and GoneThe Scottsboro BoysEddie MurphyDenzel Washington

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Type
Chapter
Information
August Wilson in Context , pp. 184 - 194
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Further Reading

Elam, Harry J., Jr., “The Distance We Have Traveled,” American Theatre, June 20, 2016, www.americantheatre.org/2016/06/20/the-distance-we-have-traveled/.Google Scholar
Elam, Harry J., Jr., The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shannon, Sandra G., The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson (Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1993).Google Scholar
Shannon, Sandra G., “Keeping His Gloves Up: August Wilson and His Critics,” in The Routledge Companion to African American Theater and Performance, ed. Craft, Renee A., DeFrantz, Thomas F., Perkins, Kathy A., and Richards, Sandra L. (New York: Routledge, 2019), 263.Google Scholar
Wilson, August, “I Want a Black Director,” in May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson, ed. Nadel, Alan (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993), 200–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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