Biographical Sketch - A. Peter Bailey

Playwright, author, journalist, activist, A. Peter Bailey, was born in Columbus, Georgia and raised in Tuskegee, Alabama. After graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. Army for three years and then attended Howard (1959-1961) University for two years. While at Howard he became an activist in the Civil Rights Movement.

From there Bailey moved to Harlem, New York City and became a founding member of the Organization of Afro-American Unity which was founded by Malcolm X in 1964 after his separation from the Nation of Islam. He was editor of the OAAU’s newsletter and was in the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965 when Brother Malcolm was assassinated. He was a pall-bearer at his funeral.

In 1968, Bailey became a staffer with Ebony Magazine, based in Johnson Publishing Company’s New York office. As such, he automatically was assigned many of Ebony’s cultural articles published between 1968 and 1985, especially those focusing on Black Theatre. He also contributed Black Theatre articles to several other publications including Jet, Negro Digest/Black World, The New York Times, Black Literature Forum and The Black Collegian. Bailey’s position also led to his being on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee for the 1975-1976 Broadway theatre season and to being chair of the Awards Committee for the Audience Development Committee (AUDELCO) which presents annual awards for excellence in Black Theatre. Between 1965 and 1985, Bailey saw over 300 plays, 90 percent of them Black.

He is the author of Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey and Harlem: Precious Memories, Great Expectations and co-author of Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X. He has been a lecturer at 35 colleges and universities throughout the country and has taught, as an adjunct professor, communication courses at Hunter College, Virginia Commonwealth University and The University of the District of Columbia.

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Mr. Bailey is the 2010 Visiting Playwright in residence in The Department of Theatre Art at Howard University. We will present a staged reading of his newest play: Malcolm, Martin, Medgar on Saturday, November 6th at 6pm in the Ira Aldridge Theatre. For more info phone: 202-806-7050

2010 Fall Semester - Visiting Playwright: A. Peter Bailey

The Howard University Department of Theatre Arts is proud to announe the Fall Semester Visiting Playwright - A. Peter Bailey.

Here's some insight as to what inspired Mr. Bailey to write the play that the Department will present a staged reading of on November 6th at 6pm in Ira Aldridge Theatre.

The Why of Malcolm, Martin, Medgar

The Why of Malcolm, Martin, Medgar was ignited back in the 1960s when I had the great opportunity to personally meet and learn from brilliant, mind-expanding giants such as Howard University historian, Professor Harold Lewis, historian, Professor Harold Cruse, historian, Professor John Henryk Clarke, novelist John Oliver Killens, content analysis expert, Professor Mahmoud Boutiba, civil and human rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, and most importantly, human rights activist and master teacher, Malcolm X.

They not only taught; they also inspired. It was only Professor Lewis with whom I was involved in a traditional classroom setting; the others I learned from in various venues throughout Harlem and rest of New York City. They all made emphasized the tremendous importance of acquiring knowledge if one was to be an effective contributor to the political, economic and cultural movement that was challenging white supremacy and racism in the Unites States. It was this background that I brought to Ebony Magazine when hired as a staffer in 1968. And being based in Ebony’s New York City office during the time, 1965-1985, when an exciting, thought-provoking, creative, compelling Black Arts Movement was emerging led to my being assigned to cover numerous cultural events and to write numerous cultural articles for Ebony and several other publications, including Jet, Negro Digest (later to become Black World), The New York Times, The Black American Literature Forum and The Black Collegian. Most of those articles focused on Black Theatre.

To the extreme annoyance of some Black Theatre producers, directors and playwright, I was not one of those proponents of “arts for arts” sake. I shared the position reflected in a quote from Chinua Achebe who noted that “art for arts sake is just another piece of deodorized dog-s***.” My first and main focus was basically on what their plays were expressing about Black people; what messages were being sent. I had been taught that every single play, movie, song, book etc. had a message. One just had to search for it. As a result of this approach some disgruntled Black theatre artists, on several occasions, asked me scornfully “Why don’t you write your own play?”
In 1999, I began doing just that-which is the why of Malcolm, Martin, Medgar, along with my weariness of meeting and sometimes teaching so many young Black folks who knew absolutely nothing about Medgar Evers, one of the great warriors of the Civil Rights Movement and whose knowledge of the other two legendary warriors was limited to Malcolm “By Any Means Necessary” X and Martin Luther “I Have a Dream” King, Jr.

Final Thoughts from the Playwright - Koffi Kwahule

1. In what way was the Playwrights in process experience beneficial to you as a writer and a person?

This workshop was too short to be able to draw conclusions. Besides, it is difficult to clearly identify the truly significant changes that an experience can effect on the way we approach artistic or literary work. It seems to me that things are much looser, less clear-cut, and that any assessment, if I can use that term, will happen much later, when I least expect it.

2. Did you discover anything new that you'll use in your future writing or teaching experiences?

What was new for me was that it was my first time working with an American university. Up until now, my experiences in the U.S. – whether in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis or at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge – have been with actors from “civilian life.” So Howard is my first university. And the little that I saw at Howard (through our exchange of questions) allowed me to understand a little better the very internal style of acting of the American actors with which I have had the opportunity to work.

3. If you could add something to the process, what would that be and why?

In addition to the internal quality of the American school of acting – work that relies more on subtleties of meaning, the soul of the text and its internal music – it would have been interesting to explore a style of acting based on what I would call the factual, external music of the text. A music suggested by the unfolding of the words themselves, that precedes any consideration of meaning. A university – which is a place of research, of exploration by trial and error, where you’re not circumscribed by the urgency and demands of production yet – seems an appropriate setting for such a digression which, far from being pointless, could enrich the actors’ traditional acting style. But that would require a little more time and most of all, that my English be less awful.

Thank you Koffi for sharing with us all!

Playwrights in Process - Final rehearsal and staged reading

We made it!! The final rehearsal days were both intense and fruitful. The students stepped up with a level of professionalism that deserves to be applauded.


The Department of Theatre Arts is truly grateful to the team at The Lark and to playwright Koffi Kwahule for inviting us to collaborate on this amazing project.






Here are just a few pics from our final days together.

The Student Team

We couldn't have done this project without our committed student team!

Production/Stage Manager, Dramaturge, and cast:

(Brooke Brown, Koffi Kwahule, Marita Phelps)

(Kasaun, Joshua, Yewnde, Aigner, Asha, Candace, Matt, Darius, Jabari, Tyshae, Shiree, Camille, Brooke)

The Master Class

On Thursday, February 18th, playwright, Koffi Kwahule and translator Chatal Bilodeau facilitatd a Master Class on "The impact of the Jazz Aesthetic on Mr. Kwahule's writing."

The class proved to be very enlightening for the student participants, introducing them to a new form of writing and discovering how a writer's voice evolves.

Here are a few pics from our shared experience:

First Rehearsal - Table Read & discussion

We met last evening, Wedensday, February 17th for our first rehearsal. The table read and discussion is always an exciting experience.

(above) Director, Professor Denise Hart making what seems to be a very good point.

(above) Translator Chantal Bilodeau translates french speaking playwright, Koffi Kwahule comments for Director Hart who's taking the picture!

(above) the students discuss the deep truths found in Melancholy of Barbarians.

Like opening the first fresh page in a new book that you're eager to read. That's the energy we experienced in the room!

If you're in the WDC area, we invite you to join us on Saturday, February 20th for the staged reading of Mr. Kwahule's play Melancholy of Barbarians at Howard University Department of Theatre Arts at 6pm in the Environmental Theatre Space 1st floor of the Fine Arts Building.

Koffi Kwahule's work is being additionally supported in the U.S. by hotINK international play festival who presented a reading of Koffi's play BLUE-S-CATS-work this year. (http://www.hotink.org)