Mamba's Daughters

Mamba's Daughters (ISBN 1570030421) is a 1929 book authored by DuBose Heyward and published by the University of South Carolina Press.^[1] The book is set in the early 20th century, following three different families in scenes of deception and social transformation. The book also explores racial boundaries during that period of the 20th century. The book received positive reviews, with the Georgia Historical Quarterly commenting that it provided "a unique perspective not only of Charleston's racial tensions, but also of the unique subculture shared by Charleston's elite whites and poorer blacks".^[2]

The novel was adapted for the stage by Heyward with wife Dorothy Heyward into a Broadway production at the Empire Theatre starring Ethel Waters -- the Heywards wrote the adaptation specifically for Waters ^[3] -- which initially ran for 162 performances, premiering January 3, 1939, and concluding May 20, 1939, and then returned the following year, to the Broadway Theatre, running for 17 performances, from March 23, 1940 to April 6, 1940.^[4][5]

Notably, Waters became the first African American, male or female, to star in a television show, The Ethel Waters Show, which was broadcast on NBC on June 14, 1939, and included a dramatic sequence from the play, along with two actresses from the stage production, Georgette Harvey and Fredi Washington.^[6]

Perry Watkins, designing the scene, was the first African-American to design a Broadway show. (He then, in 1942, worked in scenic designing at the Herbert B. Ehrmann's play Under this Roof).^[7]

Mamba's Daughters was translated into French (1932) and into Dutch (1939).

References[]

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