George Wolfe The Color Museum Sparknotes

The play The Colored Museum is a pleasant change in pace, in how a play projects itself to the audience. I found that the interaction with the audience to be an exceptional manner to add humor to the play, which was made evident in the exhibits pertaining to the play. However, the theme is constantly present in each unique exhibit, although it would appear that each exhibit could stand on its own. The play is a satire on the stereotypes or clichés seen in African-American culture, both past and present, but at the same time there is some praise or a form of acceptance towards the same diverse heritage. Despite this inherent contradiction, the play does well to spark thought in the viewer on what was said and done and how it can be relatable

Wolfe, the playwright for the play is a playwright well experienced in the genre, having written for films and plays that have connections to his black heritage. George Wolfe was born in the United States in 1954, in Frankfort, Kentucky. He originally attended an all-black private school where his mother taught, then a public school for his high school years. Once George Wolfe graduated from high school, he later attended the historically black college, Kentucky State, transferring to Pomona College in California afterward. In either case, George Wolfe was pursuing his passion, the performing arts which he received a bachelor’s degree in after studying it for years. This would indicate that his plays had the potential to have been influenced and motivated by his upcoming and heritage. It would appear so, as one of his early works Tribal Rites, takes heavy cues from African culture. It is without any doubt that George Wolfe would connect his life with the themes in the Colored Museum, and be knowledgeable how to present it in a relatable and comprehensible manner to the

However, the clever and deliberate use of props, costumes, and the stage helps it establish its themes and context and set it apart from other plays. In the beginning, the props are set to evoke the setting of a slave ship. The chains surrounding the pedestal in the middle of the stage invoke the idea of being imprisoned, the images on the side depict slaves being shackled, and the basic idea how the living conditions were on the boat. In addition, the screens often depict vivid imagery of the time period, or historical figures of the time. The images along with the sound effects add to the atmosphere, as it makes a stronger statement than words alone. The costume choice is well-done, and they serve well to differentiate the actors from each other or the different characters. The man in shackles that was hidden underneath the cloth in the moving dolly gives off the appearance of the stereotypical slave. Considering Malik Proctor also portrayed the kid, the waiter, and Flo’rance, the audience does not focus on the actor but the character he is playing. The characters portrayed are differentiable as the costumes set them apart, aided by the tone and inflection in the way the characters speak and act. Having the characters being able to be told apart gives the play immersion, as it allows the audience to focus on what is happening, not why the actors are playing