N

Adrienne Earle Pender's "N" dramatizes the struggle between playwright Eugene O'Neill and actor Charles Sidney Gilpin over the inclusion of the "N" word in the script for O'Neill's first box office hit, The Emperor Jones. in 1920. The play was turned into a film "The Black Emperor of Broadway" to be screened in 2020. O'Neill and Gilpin fight from rehearsal to Broadway run and, eventually, to the London tour. To Eugene O'Neill, a word is just a word. For Charles Gilpin, those six letters have the power to unravel everything that he has ever worked for. At stake for O'Neill? His artistic vision. For Gilpin? His entire career and family. Eugene O'Neill's groundbreaking 1921 play, The Emperor Jones, was the first American play that featured an African-American actor in the lead role on Broadway. Charles S. Gilpin's portrayal of Emperor Brutus Jones was hailed as "revelatory," and he was named the finest actor of the age. The opening of The Emperor Jones made stars of both men; it was O'Neill's first commercial success, and Charles Gilpin became the toast of the theater world, becoming the first black man to be honored by the Drama League of New York, But by 1926, O'Neill was a legend and Gilpin was lost to history. The script of "N" explores the challenging relationship between Gilpin and O'Neill and how it ultimately hinged on one word; a word that lifted one of them to the heights of American theater, and a word that destroyed the other.


About the Author
Pender, Adrienne: - Playwright Adrienne Earle Pender began her writing career in 2001. Her first play, The Rocker, was a finalist in the FutureFest 2002 Festival of New Works in Dayton, Ohio. Her play, Stone Face was a selection in the Reader's Theater at the 2003 National Black Theater Festival. Additionally, Banana Split Lady made its debut at the 1st Annual Great Plains Theatre Conference in Nebraska. Her play, Somewhere In Between, had a staged reading at the Drama Book Shop in New York in 2010; a staged reading at Wordsmyth Theater in Houston, TX in May 2014. Her play More Than Anything in the World received a staged reading at the inaugural Women's Theater Festival in Raleigh, NC, in July 2017. Adrienne's latest play, N, was named a finalist in the FutureFest 2015 Festival of New Works in Dayton. It received a staged reading at the Eugene O'Neill Festival in Danville, CA, and made its world premiere production in Raleigh, NC at Theatre in the Park in February 2017. The play was recently optioned by an independent film company, and the movie based on the stage play completed filming in October 2018. Adrienne was named a Tao House Fellow by the Eugene O'Neill Foundation in September 2015. She is also a member of the Dramatist Guild. Link to movie trailer: https: //youtu.be/zX4bLmd8kfs