by Pearl Cleage
First published 1999
Pearl Cleage brings together her major theatrical works in this collection spanning a hundred years of African American experience. The title play Flyin' West centers on Miss Leah, a character that earned praise from Ruby Dee for combining drama and humor with a devilish edge. The collection includes Blues for an Alabama Sky, Bourbon at the Border, Chain, and Late Bus to Mecca. Each play presents characters navigating their circumstances with grace and determination. Cleage writes with what critics call amazing grace and killer instinct, creating roles that capture audiences through compelling storytelling. The plays premiered at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Company before productions across the country. Cleage draws from her perspective as an African American woman to present truth without compromise, sometimes with sharp wit, sometimes with bold declaration. Her characters face the tensions between past and future, tradition and change, survival and hope. The collection showcases a playwright's commitment to examining the human condition through specific lives and moments.
Genres: drama, plays, 20th-century, african-american, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: grace-and-determination, past-and-future
Setting: Atlanta, United States
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
280 pages · Paperback · Theatre Communications Group