A recent Caribbean immigrant discovers that his daughter has fallen in love with an uneducated African-American man from the rural South.
Genre
Drama
Setting
1920s; San Juan Hill section of New York City
Eden is a 1976 play by American playwright Steve Carter. Set in the 1920s, it is the first of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Eden explores intra-racial conflicts between recent immigrants from the Caribbean and the African-American population.[1] The West Coast premiere of this critically acclaimed play received five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.[2]
The main character of the play. A recent Caribbean immigrant to the United States and follower of Marcus Garvey.
Annetta Barton
Joseph's daughter. She falls in love with Eustace Baylor, an African-American from the South, which causes the central conflict within the story.
Eustace Baylor
An African American from the rural South than falls in love with Annette.
Solomon Barton
One of Joseph's sons.
Nimrod Barton
One of Joseph's sons.
Plot synopsis
Set in the San Juan Hill section of New York City in 1927, Joseph Barton, a recent Caribbean immigrant and follower of Marcus Garvey discovers to his horror that his daughter is keeping company with an uneducated African American man from the rural South.
Origins of the play
Eden is loosely based on the story of the playwright's parents. Horace Carter, Sr., a native of Virginia, and his wife, Carmen, who was born in New York of Caribbean descent, lived in New York City at the time of their son's birth.[3][4]
In 1985, Carter wrote the screenplay A Time Called Eden, based on his play. It was set to go into production the following year, however, to date, the project remains unproduced.[4][7]
Awards and nominations
Awards
1976 Outer Critics Circle Award
1976 Audelco Award
1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Direction (Edmund Cambridge)[2]
1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Lead Performance (Carl Lumbly)[2]
1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Playwrighting (steve carter)[2]
1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Production (Los Angeles Theatre Center)[2]
1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Supporting Performance (Marilyn Coleman)[2]
Notes
In 2008, Barbara Montgomery from the original cast, staged a reading of Eden with the Negro Ensemble Company as part of The NEC Classic Playreading Series.[8]
References
1 2 Christon, Lawrence (November 30, 1980). "Stage News: BLACK VS. BLACK IN 'EDEN'". Los Angeles Times. p.R63. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2009. Even during the best of not-so-recent times for black theater, plays tended to focus on black characters in a white world and didn't as a rule deal with prejudices among blacks themselves. But "Eden", a play by Steve Carter which will have its West Coast premiere at the Los Angeles Actors Theater.
↑ "Eden". New York City: Lortel Archives: The Internet Off-Broadway Database. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
↑ Sullivan, Dan (December 10, 2002). "'eden' focuses on west indian family". Los Angeles Times. p.16, Part VI. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2009. Given the choice between the play that never warms up and the play that keeps boiling over, I'll take the latter. Particularly when it's as well-acted as Steve Carter's "Eden" at the Los Angeles Actors Theater.
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