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131-535: Originally called The Silver Bullet , the play is one of O'Neill's major experimental works, mixing expressionism and realism , and the use of an unreliable narrator and multiple points of view. It was also an oblique commentary on the U.S. occupation of Haiti after bloody rebellions there, an act of imperialism that was much condemned in O'Neill's radical political circles in New York. The Emperor Jones draws on O'Neill's own hallucinatory experience hacking through

262-461: A ballet based on the play that was commissioned by The Empire Music Festival of New York, and danced by José Limón 's company, most of them in blackface — Limón himself a revered teacher at Juilliard and breakthrough performer of color. A live British television production by ABC Television for the first season of its Armchair Theatre series was seen on UK television on March 30, 1958. It features African-American singer Kenneth Spencer , and

393-519: A brief period of influence in American theatre, including the early modernist plays by Eugene O'Neill ( The Hairy Ape , The Emperor Jones and The Great God Brown ), Sophie Treadwell ( Machinal ) and Elmer Rice ( The Adding Machine ). Expressionist plays often dramatise the spiritual awakening and sufferings of their protagonists. Some utilise an episodic dramatic structure and are known as Stationendramen (station plays), modeled on

524-645: A concert. The pair's rendition of African-American folk songs and spirituals was captivating, and Victor Records signed Robeson to a contract in September 1925. The Robesons went to London for a revival of The Emperor Jones , before spending the rest of the fall on holiday on the French Riviera, socializing with Gertrude Stein and Claude McKay . Robeson and Brown performed a series of concert tours in America from January 1926 until May 1927. During

655-410: A culture is in its artistic contributions, and that the only true American culture was African-American. The success of his acting placed him in elite social circles and his rise to fame, which was forcefully aided by Essie, had happened very rapidly. Essie's ambition for Robeson was a startling dichotomy to his indifference. She quit her job, became his agent, and negotiated his first movie role in

786-546: A decade before getting the rights from him. Louis Gruenberg wrote an opera based on the play , which was premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1933. Baritone Lawrence Tibbett sang the title role, performing in blackface . Paul Robeson's 1936 film Song of Freedom features a scene from the opera with Robeson singing the role of Jones. This has sometimes resulted in a confusion that

917-581: A disagreement between William and white financial supporters of the Witherspoon church arose with apparent racial undertones, which were prevalent in Princeton. William, who had the support of his entirely black congregation, resigned in 1901. The loss of his position forced him to work menial jobs. Three years later when Robeson was six, his mother, who was nearly blind, died in a house fire. Eventually, William became financially incapable of providing

1048-527: A few months. In 1928, Robeson played "Joe" in the London production of the American musical Show Boat , at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . His rendition of " Ol' Man River " became the benchmark for all future performers of the song. Some black critics objected to the play due to its usage of the then-common racial epithet " nigger ". It was, nonetheless, immensely popular with white audiences. He

1179-552: A group of Expressionist artists, many of Jewish origin, dubbed the School of Paris . After World War II, figurative expressionism influenced artists and styles around the world. The term is sometimes suggestive of angst . In a historical sense, much older painters such as Matthias Grünewald and El Greco are sometimes termed expressionist, though the term is applied mainly to 20th-century works. The Expressionist emphasis on individual and subjective perspective has been characterized as

1310-476: A hiatus in New York, Robeson learned that Essie was several months pregnant. Paul Robeson Jr. was born in November 1927 in New York, while Robeson and Brown toured Europe. Essie experienced complications from the birth, and by mid-December, her health had deteriorated dramatically. Ignoring Essie's objections, her mother wired Robeson and he immediately returned to her bedside. Essie completely recovered after

1441-578: A high range, others as baritone with low notes. Throughout his career, Robeson was classified as a bass-baritone. Robeson entered New York University School of Law in fall 1919. To support himself, he became an assistant football coach at Lincoln University , where he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. However, Robeson felt uncomfortable at NYU and moved to Harlem and transferred to Columbia Law School in February 1920. Already known in

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1572-660: A house for himself and his children still living at home, Ben and Paul, so they moved into the attic of a store in Westfield, New Jersey. William found a stable parsonage at the St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion in 1910, where Robeson filled in for his father during sermons when he was called away. In 1912, Robeson began attending Somerville High School in New Jersey, where he performed in Julius Caesar and Othello , sang in

1703-549: A human being for the first time in my life ... I walk in full human dignity." He undertook the role of Bosambo in the movie Sanders of the River (1935), which he felt would render a realistic view of colonial African culture. Sanders of the River made Robeson an international movie star; but the stereotypical portrayal of a colonial African was seen as embarrassing to his stature as an artist and damaging to his reputation. The Commissioner of Nigeria to London protested

1834-424: A monthly newspaper, Freedom , showcasing his views and those of his circle. Most issues had a column by Robeson, on the front page. In the final issue, July–August 1955, an unsigned column on the front page of the newspaper described the struggle for the restoration of his passport. It called for support from the leading African-American organizations, and asserted that "Negroes, [and] all Americans who have breathed

1965-547: A part of the development of functionalism . In Mexico, in 1953, German émigré Mathias Goeritz published the Arquitectura Emocional ("Emotional Architecture") manifesto with which he declared that "architecture's principal function is emotion". Modern Mexican architect Luis Barragán adopted the term that influenced his work. The two of them collaborated in the project Torres de Satélite (1957–58) guided by Goeritz's principles of Arquitectura Emocional . It

2096-579: A propagandist for the Soviet Union, the Soviets brought Feffer from prison to him. Feffer told him that Mikhoels had been murdered, and predicted that he would be executed. To protect the Soviet Union's reputation, and to keep the right wing of the United States from gaining the moral high ground, Robeson denied that any persecution existed in the Soviet Union, and kept the meeting secret for

2227-588: A reaction against Abstract Expressionism was implicit in it at the start, and is one of its most lineal continuities." The Expressionist movement included other types of culture, including dance, sculpture, cinema and theatre. Exponents of expressionist dance included Mary Wigman , Rudolf von Laban , and Pina Bausch . Some sculptors used the Expressionist style, as for example Ernst Barlach . Other expressionist artists known mainly as painters, such as Erich Heckel , also worked with sculpture. There

2358-578: A reaction to positivism and other artistic styles such as Naturalism and Impressionism . While the word expressionist was used in the modern sense as early as 1850, its origin is sometimes traced to paintings exhibited in 1901 in Paris by obscure artist Julien-Auguste Hervé, which he called Expressionismes . An alternative view is that the term was coined by the Czech art historian Antonin Matějček in 1910 as

2489-462: A role pioneered by Charles Sidney Gilpin . The role terrified and galvanized Robeson, as it was practically a 90-minute soliloquy. Reviews declared him an unequivocal success. Though arguably clouded by its controversial subject, his Jim in Chillun was less well received. He answered criticism of its plot by writing that fate had drawn him to the "untrodden path" of drama, that the true measure of

2620-635: A silent race film directed by Oscar Micheaux , Body and Soul (1925). To support a charity for single mothers, Robeson headlined a concert singing spirituals . He performed his repertoire of spirituals on the radio. Lawrence Benjamin Brown , who had become renowned while touring as a pianist with gospel singer Roland Hayes , chanced upon Robeson in Harlem. The two ad-libbed a set of spirituals, with Robeson as lead and Brown as accompanist. This so enthralled them that they booked Provincetown Playhouse for

2751-559: A tour in 1940, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was the only major Los Angeles hotel willing to accommodate him due to his race, at an exorbitant rate and registered under an assumed name, and he therefore dedicated two hours every afternoon to sitting in the lobby, where he was widely recognised, "to ensure that the next time Black[s] come through, they'll have a place to stay." Los Angeles hotels lifted their restrictions on black guests soon afterwards. Robeson narrated

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2882-547: A touring melodrama, Voodoo , in 1922, and in Emperor Jones in 1925. In 1928, he scored a major success in the London premiere of Show Boat . Living in London for several years with his wife Eslanda , Robeson continued to establish himself as a concert artist and starred in a London production of Othello , the first of three productions of the play over the course of his career. He also gained attention in Sanders of

3013-477: Is about Brutus Jones, a Black American Pullman porter who escapes to an island in the West Indies. In two years, Jones makes himself "Emperor" of the place. A native tried to shoot Jones, but the gun misfired; thereupon Jones announced that he was protected by a charm and that only silver bullets could harm him. When the play begins, he has been Emperor long enough to amass a fortune by imposing heavy taxes on

3144-644: Is arguable that all artists are expressive but there are many examples of art production in Europe from the 15th century onward which emphasize extreme emotion. Such art often occurs during times of social upheaval and war, such as the Protestant Reformation , German Peasants' War , and Eighty Years' War between the Spanish and the Netherlands, when extreme violence, much directed at civilians,

3275-606: Is often termed the first expressionist drama. In it, an unnamed man and woman struggle for dominance. The man brands the woman; she stabs and imprisons him. He frees himself and she falls dead at his touch. As the play ends, he slaughters all around him (in the words of the text) "like mosquitoes." The extreme simplification of characters to mythic types, choral effects, declamatory dialogue and heightened intensity all would become characteristic of later expressionist plays. The German composer Paul Hindemith created an operatic version of this play, which premiered in 1921. Expressionism

3406-468: Is strong. We shall not make war on anyone. We shall not make war on the Soviet Union . We oppose those who wish to build up imperialist Germany and to establish fascism in Greece . We wish peace with Franco's Spain despite her fascism. We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the people's Republics ." He was blacklisted for saying this in the mainstream press within

3537-426: Is the equivalent of the heart-beat which assumes a higher and higher pitch; while coming closer it denotes the premonition of approaching punishment and the climactic recoil of internal guilt of the hero; he wanders and falters in the jungle, present throughout the play with its primeval terror and blackness. The play is virtually a monologue for its leading character, Jones, in a Shakespearean range from regal power to

3668-591: Is well-mannered." Some of the style's main visual artists of the early 20th century were: The style originated principally in Germany and Austria. There were groups of expressionist painters, including Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke . Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider, named after a painting) was based in Munich and Die Brücke (The Bridge) was originally based in Dresden (some members moved to Berlin ). Die Brücke

3799-691: The China Aid Council and United China Relief at Washington's Uline Arena on April 24, 1941. The Washington Committee for Aid to China 's booking of Constitution Hall had been blocked by the Daughters of the American Revolution owing to Robeson's race. The indignation was so great that Eleanor Roosevelt and Hu Shih , the Chinese ambassador, became sponsors. However, when the organizers offered tickets on generous terms to

3930-693: The Cologne Werkbund Exhibition (1914) , and Erich Mendelsohn 's Einstein Tower in Potsdam , Germany completed in 1921. The interior of Hans Poelzig 's Berlin theatre (the Grosse Schauspielhaus ), designed for the director Max Reinhardt , is also cited sometimes. The influential architectural critic and historian Sigfried Giedion , in his book Space, Time and Architecture (1941), dismissed Expressionist architecture as

4061-914: The Communist guerrilla army meant that China was fighting Japan "with one hand tied behind its back". March of the Volunteers ( Chee lai! ) became newly founded People's Republic of China 's National Anthem after 1949. Its Chinese lyricist, Tian Han , died in a Beijing prison in 1968, but Robeson continued to send royalties to his family. After the Moore's Ford lynchings of four African Americans in Georgia on July 25, 1946, Robeson met with President Truman and admonished Truman by stating that if he did not enact legislation to end lynching , "the Negroes will defend themselves". Truman immediately terminated

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4192-532: The Hitler-Stalin pact was still in effect, Robeson counseled American blacks that they had no stake in the rivalry of European powers . Once Russia was attacked, he urged blacks to support the war effort, now warning that an Allied defeat would "make slaves of us all". Robeson participated in benefit concerts on behalf of the war effort and at a concert at the Polo Grounds , he met two emissaries from

4323-575: The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee , Solomon Mikhoels and Itzik Feffer . Subsequently, Robeson reprised his role of Othello at the Shubert Theatre in 1943, and became the first African American to play the role with a white supporting cast on Broadway . The production was a success, running for 296 performances on Broadway (a record for a Shakespeare production on Broadway that still stands), and winning for Robeson

4454-801: The Korean War and condemned America's nuclear threats against China. In Robeson's opinion, the U.S. had manipulated the United Nations for imperialist purposes, and China's intervention in the Korean War was necessary to defend the security of millions of people in Asia. Robeson credited "American peace sentiment" as a crucial factor in President Truman not using nuclear weapons and in recalling General Douglas MacArthur . A month after Robeson began criticizing his country's role in

4585-879: The National Negro Congress to help fill the larger venue, both sponsors withdrew, objecting to the NNC's Communist ties. Robeson opposed the U.S. support for Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang in China, and denounced U.S. support for Chiang at political events over the course of 1945–1946, including the World Peace Conference and the National Peace Commission. In Robeson's view, the KMT's anti-communist focus and blockade of

4716-580: The Savoy Grill , in which he was refused seating, caused him to issue a press release describing the insult which subsequently became a matter of public debate. Essie had learned early in their marriage that Robeson had extramarital affairs, but she tolerated them. However, when she discovered that he was having another affair, she unfavorably altered the characterization of him in his biography, and defamed him by describing him with "negative racial stereotypes". Despite her uncovering of this tryst, there

4847-433: The U.S. State Department withdrew his passport and his income plummeted. He moved to Harlem and published a periodical called Freedom , which was critical of United States policies, from 1950 to 1955. Robeson's right to travel was eventually restored as a result of the 1958 United States Supreme Court decision Kent v. Dulles . Between 1925 and 1961, Robeson released recordings of some 276 songs. The first of these

4978-691: The anti-imperialist movement and his association with British socialists led him to visit the Soviet Union . Robeson, Essie, and Marie Seton traveled to the Soviet Union on an invitation from Sergei Eisenstein in December 1934. A stopover in Berlin enlightened Robeson to the racism in Nazi Germany and, on his arrival in Moscow , in the Soviet Union, Robeson said, "Here I am not a Negro but

5109-514: The 1933 film of O'Neill's play is a film of the opera. In the UK, BBC Television produced an adaptation in 1938, starring Robert Adams , and another in 1953 , starring Gordon Heath . Several revivals were made in the 1950s when Robeson himself was blacklisted, denied his passport by the State Department and his films — including the 1933 film — recordings and performances were banned in

5240-562: The 1942 documentary Native Land which was labeled by the FBI as communist propaganda. After an appearance in Tales of Manhattan (1942), a production which he felt was "very offensive to my people" due to the way the segment was handled in stereotypes , he announced that he would no longer act in films because of the demeaning roles available to blacks. According to democratic socialist writer Barry Finger's critical appraisal of Robeson, while

5371-660: The American and Allied war efforts during World War II . His history of supporting civil rights causes and Soviet policies, however, brought scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After the war ended, the CAA was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations . Robeson was investigated during the McCarthy era . When he refused to recant his public advocacy of his political beliefs,

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5502-555: The American poet Walt Whitman 's (1819–1892) Leaves of Grass (1855–1891); the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881); Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863–1944); Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890); Belgian painter James Ensor (1860–1949); and pioneering Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). In 1905, a group of four German artists, led by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , formed Die Brücke (the Bridge) in

5633-769: The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) by testifying that he was not a member of the CPUSA. Nevertheless, two organizations with which Robeson was intimately involved, the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) and the CAA, were placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO). Subsequently, he was summoned before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary , and when questioned about his affiliation with

5764-652: The Communist Party, he refused to answer, stating: "Some of the most brilliant and distinguished Americans are about to go to jail for the failure to answer that question, and I am going to join them, if necessary." In 1948, Robeson was prominent in Henry A. Wallace 's bid for the President of the United States, during which Robeson traveled to the Deep South , at risk to his own life, to campaign for him. In

5895-466: The Communist side of [the] political picture. Jackie Robinson helps them greatly by his forthright statements." Days later, the announcement of a concert headlined by Robeson in New York City provoked the local press to decry the use of their community to support "subversives". The Peekskill riots ensued in which violent anti-Robeson protests shut down a Robeson concert on August 27, 1949, and marred

6026-569: The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), especially his philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–1892); the later plays of the Swedish dramatist August Strindberg (1849–1912), including the trilogy To Damascus (1898–1901), A Dream Play (1902), The Ghost Sonata (1907); Frank Wedekind (1864–1918), especially the "Lulu" plays Erdgeist ( Earth Spirit ) (1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora ( Pandora's Box ) (1904);

6157-450: The Korean War, the Department of State demanded that he return his passport. Robeson refused. At the FBI's request, the State Department voided Robeson's passport and instructed customs officials to prevent any attempt by him to leave the country. Confining him inside the U.S. afforded him less freedom to express what some saw as his "extreme advocacy on behalf of the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa". It's estimated that

6288-444: The NFL's Milwaukee Badgers . He ended his football career after the 1922 season, and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1923. Robeson briefly worked as a lawyer, but he renounced a career in law because of racism . His wife supported them financially. She was the head histological chemist in Surgical Pathology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital . She continued to work there until 1925 when his career took off. They frequented

6419-421: The National Football League. In late 1915, Robeson became the third African-American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time. He tried out for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, and his resolve to make the squad was tested as his teammates engaged in excessive play, during which his nose was broken and his shoulder dislocated. The coach, Foster Sanford , decided he had overcome

6550-489: The New York-based performance troupe The Wooster Group , starring Kate Valk and Willem Dafoe . Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement , initially in poetry and painting , originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists have sought to express

6681-414: The Olivier auditorium at The National Theatre , London, in 2007. New York's Irish Repertory Theatre staged a 2009 revival, which received positive reviews. John Douglas Thompson portrayed Jones. The play was adapted for a 1933 feature film starring Paul Robeson and directed by Dudley Murphy , an avant-garde filmmaker of O'Neill's Greenwich Village circle who pursued the reluctant playwright for

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6812-415: The River (1935) and in the film production of Show Boat (1936). Robeson's political activities began with his involvement with unemployed workers and anti-imperialist students in Britain, and it continued with his support for the Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War and his involvement in the Council on African Affairs (CAA). After returning to the United States in 1939, Robeson supported

6943-524: The United Nations. During this period, Robeson also developed a sympathy for the Republic of China 's side in the Second Sino-Japanese War . In 1940, the Chinese progressive activist, Liu Liangmo taught Robeson the patriotic song " Chee Lai!" ("Arise!"), known as the March of the Volunteers . Robeson premiered the song at a concert in New York City's Lewisohn Stadium and recorded it in both English and Chinese for Keynote Records in early 1941. Robeson gave further performances at benefit concerts for

7074-470: The United States, arriving in New York in October 1939. They lived at first in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem, and in 1941 settled in Enfield, Connecticut . After his well-received performance of Ballad for Americans on a live CBS radio broadcast on November 5, with a repeat performance on New Year's Day 1940, the song became a popular seller. In 1940, the magazine Collier's named Robeson America's "no. 1 entertainer". Nevertheless, during

7205-457: The United States, including in many periodicals of the Negro press such as The Crisis . In order to isolate Robeson politically, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) subpoenaed Jackie Robinson to comment on Robeson's Paris speech. Robinson testified that Robeson's statements, "'if accurately reported', were silly'". Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt noted, "Mr. Robeson does his people great harm in trying to line them up on

7336-485: The United States; these new productions were implicitly in defiance of the persecution and suppression of this great star by McCarthyism and the FBI from 1950 until 1958, and part of a worldwide effort of artists to lift the ban. First, the legendary New York actor Ossie Davis starred in a television adaptation for the Kraft Television Theatre in 1955 — this at a time when black faces were rarely seen on American television sets. In 1956 Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote

7467-424: The Welsh people killed while fighting for the Republicans, where he recorded a message that became his epitaph: "The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative." After an invitation from J. B. S. Haldane , he traveled to Spain in 1938 because he believed in the International Brigades 's cause, visited the hospital of Benicàssim , singing to

7598-586: The aftermath of the replacement concert held eight days later. In its review of Christy Walsh's massive 1949 reference, College Football and All America Review , the Los Angeles Times praised it as "the most complete source of past gridiron scores, players, coaches, etc., yet published", but it failed to list Robeson as ever having played on the Rutgers team or ever having been an All-American. Months later, NBC canceled Robeson's appearance on Eleanor Roosevelt 's television program, which furthered his erasure from public view. Robeson opposed U.S. involvement in

7729-436: The best way to diminish the oppression African Americans faced was for his artistic work to be an example of what "men of my colour" could accomplish rather than to "be a propagandist and make speeches and write articles about what they call the Colour Question." After Essie discovered Robeson had been having an affair with Ashcroft, she decided to seek a divorce and they split up. While working in London, Robeson became one of

7860-439: The black community for his singing, he was selected to perform at the dedication of the Harlem YWCA . Robeson began dating Eslanda "Essie" Goode and after her coaxing, he made his theatrical debut as Simon in Ridgely Torrence 's Simon of Cyrene . After a year of courtship, they were married in August 1921. Robeson was recruited by Fritz Pollard to play for the NFL's Akron Pros while he continued his law studies. In

7991-404: The centre" of expressionist music, with dissonance predominating, so that the "harmonious, affirmative element of art is banished" (Adorno 2009, 275–76). Erwartung and Die Glückliche Hand , by Schoenberg, and Wozzeck , an opera by Alban Berg (based on the play Woyzeck by Georg Büchner ), are examples of Expressionist works. If one were to draw an analogy from paintings, one may describe

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8122-417: The chorus, and excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track. His athletic dominance elicited racial taunts which he ignored. Prior to his graduation, he won a statewide academic contest for a scholarship to Rutgers and was named class valedictorian. He took a summer job as a waiter in Narragansett Pier , Rhode Island, where he befriended Fritz Pollard , later to be the first African-American coach in

8253-433: The city of Dresden. This was arguably the founding organization for the German Expressionist movement, though they did not use the word itself. A few years later, in 1911, a like-minded group of young artists formed Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in Munich. The name came from Wassily Kandinsky 's Der Blaue Reiter painting of 1903. Among their members were Kandinsky, Franz Marc , Paul Klee , and August Macke . However,

8384-402: The cultural institution as a whole is through its relationship to realism and the dominant conventions of representation." More explicitly, that the expressionists rejected the ideology of realism. The term refers to an "artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person". It

8515-429: The depths of terror and insanity, comparable to Lear or Macbeth . Scenes 2 to 7 are from the point of view of Jones, and no other character speaks. The first and last scenes are essentially a framing device with a character named Smithers, a white trader who appears to be part of illegal activities. In the first scene, Smithers is told about the rebellion by an old woman, and then has a lengthy conversation with Jones. In

8646-425: The ensuing year, Robeson was forced to go overseas to work because his concert performances were canceled at the FBI's behest. While on tour, he spoke at the World Peace Council . The Associated Press published a false transcript of his speech which gave the impression that Robeson had equated America with a Fascist state. In an interview, Robeson said the "danger of Fascism [in the US] has averted". Nevertheless,

8777-412: The expressionist painting technique as the distortion of reality (mostly colors and shapes) to create a nightmarish effect for the particular painting as a whole. Expressionist music roughly does the same thing, where the dramatically increased dissonance creates, aurally, a nightmarish atmosphere. In architecture, two specific buildings are identified as Expressionist: Bruno Taut 's Glass Pavilion of

8908-447: The field because the Scarlet Knights had fielded a Negro, Robeson. After a standout junior year of football, he was recognized in The Crisis for his athletic, academic, and singing talents. At this time his father fell grievously ill. Robeson took the sole responsibility in caring for him, shuttling between Rutgers and Somerville. His father, who was the "glory of his boyhood years" soon died, and at Rutgers, Robeson expounded on

9039-406: The film as slanderous to his country, and Robeson thereafter became more politically conscious in his choice of roles. He appeared in the play Stevedore at the Embassy Theatre in London in May 1935, which was favorably reviewed in The Crisis by Nancy Cunard , who concluded: " Stevedore is extremely valuable in the racial – social question – it is straight from

9170-447: The first Donaldson Award for Best Actor in a Play. During the same period, he addressed a meeting with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and team owners in a failed attempt to convince them to admit black players to Major League Baseball . He toured North America with Othello until 1945, and subsequently, his political efforts with the CAA to get colonial powers to discontinue their exploitation of Africa were short-circuited by

9301-717: The first artists to record at the new EMI Recording Studios (later known as Abbey Road Studios ), recording four songs in September 1931, almost two months before the studio was officially opened. Robeson returned to Broadway as Joe in the 1932 revival of Show Boat , to critical and popular acclaim. He received, with immense pride, an honorary master's degree from Rutgers. It is said that Foster Sanford, his college football coach advised him that divorcing Essie and marrying Ashcroft would do irreparable damage to his reputation. In any case, Ashcroft and Robeson's relationship ended in 1932, and Robeson and Essie reconciled, leaving their relationship scarred permanently. In 1933, Robeson played

9432-550: The idea from the Symbolist director and designer, Edward Gordon Craig ). Staging was especially important in Expressionist drama, with directors forgoing the illusion of reality to block actors in as close to two-dimensional movement. Directors also made heavy use of lighting effects to create stark contrast and as another method to heavily emphasize emotion and convey the play or a scene's message. German expressionist playwrights: Playwrights influenced by Expressionism: Among

9563-483: The incongruity of African Americans fighting to protect America in World War I but not having the same opportunities in the United States as whites. He finished university with four annual oratorical triumphs and varsity letters in multiple sports. His play at end won him first-team All-American selection, in both his junior and senior years. Walter Camp considered him the greatest end ever. Academically, he

9694-456: The islanders and carrying on all sorts of large-scale corruption. Rebellion is brewing. The islanders are whipping up their courage to a fighting point by calling on the local gods and demons of the forest. From the deep of the jungle, the steady beat of a big drum sounded by them is heard, increasing its tempo towards the end of the play and showing the rebels' presence dreaded by the Emperor. It

9825-705: The jungle while prospecting for gold in Honduras in 1909, as well as the brief, brutal presidency of Haiti 's Vilbrun Guillaume Sam . The Emperor Jones was O'Neill's first big box-office hit. It established him as a successful playwright, after he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his first play, the much less well-known Beyond the Horizon (1920). The Emperor Jones was included in Burns Mantle 's The Best Plays of 1920–1921 . The Emperor Jones

9956-411: The language as consistent with the behavior and speech of Adam Scott, the character's inspiration. When they could not come to a reconciliation, O'Neill replaced Gilpin with the young and then unknown Paul Robeson , who previously had only performed on the concert stage. Robeson starred in the title role in the 1925 New York revival (28 performances) and later in the London production. Robeson starred in

10087-672: The last scene, Smithers converses with Lem, the leader of the rebellion. Smithers has mixed feelings about Jones, though he generally has more respect for Jones than for the rebels. During the final scene, Jones is killed by a silver bullet, which was the only way that the rebels believed Jones could be killed, and the way in which Jones planned to kill himself if he was captured. The Little Formless Fears; Jeff; The Negro Convicts; The Prison Guard; The Planters; The Auctioneer; The Slaves; The Congo Witch-Doctor; The Crocodile God The expansive personality and style of speech seen in Brutus Jones

10218-561: The late 20th and early 21st century have developed distinct styles that may be considered part of Expressionism. After World War II, figurative expressionism influenced artists and styles around the world. In the U.S., American Expressionism and American Figurative Expressionism , particularly Boston Expressionism , were an integral part of American modernism around the Second World War. Thomas B. Hess wrote that "the ‘New figurative painting’ which some have been expecting as

10349-593: The lyrics to standard English and replacing the fatalistic last verse ("Ah gits weary / An' sick of tryin' / Ah'm tired of livin' / An skeered of dyin ' ") with an uplifting verse of his own ("But I keep laffin' / Instead of cryin' / I must keep fightin' / Until I'm dyin ' ") – transforming it from a tragic "song of resignation with a hint of protest implied" into a battle hymn of unwavering defiance. His business agent expressed concern about his political involvement, but Robeson overruled him and decided that contemporary events trumped commercialism. In Wales , he commemorated

10480-537: The meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality. Expressionism developed as an avant-garde style before the First World War . It remained popular during the Weimar Republic , particularly in Berlin. The style extended to a wide range of the arts, including expressionist architecture , painting, literature, theatre , dance, film and music . Paris became a gathering place for

10611-581: The meeting and declared that the time was not right to propose anti-lynching legislation. Subsequently, Robeson publicly called upon all Americans to demand that Congress pass civil rights legislation. Robeson founded the American Crusade Against Lynching organization in 1946. This organization was thought to be a threat to the NAACP antiviolence movement. Robeson received support from W. E. B. Du Bois on this matter and launched

10742-410: The most vociferous 'anti-expressionists.'" What can be said, however, is that it was a movement that developed in the early twentieth century, mainly in Germany, in reaction to the dehumanizing effect of industrialization and the growth of cities, and that "one of the central means by which expressionism identifies itself as an avant-garde movement, and by which it marks its distance to traditions and

10873-542: The music had no connection to his heritage. In early 1934, Robeson enrolled in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), a constituent college of the University of London , where he studied phonetics and Swahili . His "sudden interest" in African history and its influence on culture coincided with his essay "I Want to be African", wherein he wrote of his desire to embrace his ancestry. His friends in

11004-545: The opposite of Impressionism : "An Expressionist wishes, above all, to express himself... (an Expressionist rejects) immediate perception and builds on more complex psychic structures... Impressions and mental images that pass through ... people's soul as through a filter which rids them of all substantial accretions to produce their clear essence [...and] are assimilated and condensed into more general forms, into types, which he transcribes through simple short-hand formulae and symbols." Important precursors of Expressionism were

11135-586: The organization on the anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation , September 23. About this time, Robeson's belief that trade unionism was crucial to civil rights became a mainstay of his political beliefs as he became a proponent of the union activist and Communist Party USA member Revels Cayton . Robeson was later called before the Tenney Committee where he responded to questions about his affiliation with

11266-694: The painter Kandinsky he avoided "traditional forms of beauty" to convey powerful feelings in his music. Arnold Schoenberg , Anton Webern and Alban Berg , the members of the Second Viennese School , are important Expressionists (Schoenberg was also an expressionist painter). Other composers that have been associated with expressionism are Krenek (the Second Symphony), Paul Hindemith ( The Young Maiden ), Igor Stravinsky ( Japanese Songs ), Alexander Scriabin (late piano sonatas) (Adorno 2009, 275). Another significant expressionist

11397-604: The play in cities across the United States, including a production with marionettes in Los Angeles in 1938. In 1980 Richard Negri directed a production at the Royal Exchange, Manchester with Pete Postlethwaite and Albie Woodington. The Wooster Group started to develop a production of the play in 1992 through a series of work in progress showings. The finished piece opened in 1993 at The Performing Garage . As part of its postdramatic aesthetics, this staging

11528-544: The play was also derived from other sources, it was Scott's bravado, his superstition and his religious convictions that imbued the character of Brutus Jones. The Emperor Jones was first staged on November 1, 1920, by the Provincetown Players at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City. Charles Sidney Gilpin , a respected leading man from the all-black Lafayette Players of Harlem ,

11659-434: The poets associated with German Expressionism were: Other poets influenced by expressionism: In prose, the early stories and novels of Alfred Döblin were influenced by Expressionism, and Franz Kafka is sometimes labelled an Expressionist. Some further writers and works that have been called Expressionist include: The term expressionism "was probably first applied to music in 1918, especially to Schoenberg", because like

11790-572: The presentation of the suffering and death of Jesus in the Stations of the Cross . Strindberg had pioneered this form with his autobiographical trilogy To Damascus . These plays also often dramatise the struggle against bourgeois values and established authority, frequently personified by the Father. In Sorge's The Beggar , ( Der Bettler ), for example, the young hero's mentally ill father raves about

11921-634: The pro-labor play Plant in the Sun , in which he played an Irishman, his first "white" role. With Max Yergan , and the International Committee on African Affairs (later known as the Council on African Affairs or CAA), Robeson became an advocate for African nationalism and political independence. Paul Robeson was living in Britain until the start of the Second World War in 1939. His name

12052-487: The prospect of mining the riches of Mars and is finally poisoned by his son. In Bronnen's Parricide ( Vatermord ), the son stabs his tyrannical father to death, only to have to fend off the frenzied sexual overtures of his mother. In Expressionist drama, the speech may be either expansive and rhapsodic, or clipped and telegraphic. Director Leopold Jessner became famous for his expressionistic productions, often set on stark, steeply raked flights of stairs (having borrowed

12183-502: The provocation and announced that he had made the team. Robeson joined the debating team and he sang off-campus for spending money, and on-campus with the Glee Club informally, as membership required attending all-white mixers. He also joined the other collegiate athletic teams. As a sophomore, amidst Rutgers' sesquicentennial celebration, he was benched when a Southern football team, Washington and Lee University , refused to take

12314-436: The rendering of the visual appearance of objects, Expressionist artists sought to portray emotions and subjective interpretations. It was not important to reproduce an aesthetically pleasing impression of the artistic subject matter, they felt, but rather to represent vivid emotional reactions by powerful colours and dynamic compositions. Kandinsky, the main artist of Der Blaue Reiter , believed that with simple colours and shapes

12445-490: The rest of his life, except from his son. On June 20, 1949, Robeson spoke at the Paris Peace Congress saying that "We in America do not forget that it was on the backs of the white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of Blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace

12576-444: The revocation of Robeson's travel privileges, and the resulting inability to earn fees overseas, caused his yearly income to drop from $ 150,000 to less than $ 3,000. When Robeson met with State Department officials and asked why he was denied a passport, he was told that "his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries". In 1950, Robeson co-founded, with W. E. B. Du Bois ,

12707-496: The rise of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, there were subsequent expressionist works. Expressionism is notoriously difficult to define, in part because it "overlapped with other major 'isms' of the modernist period: with Futurism , Vorticism , Cubism , Surrealism and Dadaism ." Richard Murphy also comments, “the search for an all-inclusive definition is problematic to the extent that the most challenging expressionists such as Kafka , Gottfried Benn and Döblin were simultaneously

12838-489: The role of Jim in the London production of Chillun , virtually gratis, then returned to the United States to star as Brutus in the film The Emperor Jones  – the first film to feature an African American in a starring role, "a feat not repeated for more than two decades in the U.S." His acting in The Emperor Jones was well received. On the film set he rejected any slight to his dignity, despite

12969-495: The shoulder". In early 1936, he decided to send his son to school in the Soviet Union to shield him from racist attitudes. He then played the role of Toussaint Louverture in the eponymous play by C. L. R. James at the Westminster Theatre , and appeared in the films Song of Freedom , and Show Boat in 1936, and My Song Goes Forth , King Solomon's Mines . and Big Fella , all in 1937. In 1938, he

13100-502: The social functions at the future Schomburg Center . In December 1924 he landed the lead role of Jim in Eugene O'Neill 's All God's Chillun Got Wings , which culminated with Jim metaphorically consummating his marriage with his white wife by symbolically emasculating himself. Chillun's opening was postponed due to nationwide controversy over its plot. Chillun's delay led to a revival of The Emperor Jones with Robeson as Brutus,

13231-497: The spectator could perceive the moods and feelings in the paintings, a theory that encouraged him towards increased abstraction. In Paris a group of artists dubbed the École de Paris ( School of Paris ) by André Warnod were also known for their expressionist art. This was especially prevalent amongst the foreign born Jewish painters of the School of Paris such as Chaim Soutine , Marc Chagall , Yitzhak Frenkel , Abraham Mintchine and others. These artists' expressionism

13362-631: The speech publicly attributed to him was a catalyst for his being seen as an enemy of mainstream America. Robeson refused to bow to public criticism when he advocated in favor of twelve defendants, including his long-time friend, Benjamin J. Davis Jr. , charged during the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders . Robeson traveled to Moscow in June 1949, and tried to find Itzik Feffer whom he had met during World War II. He let Soviet authorities know that he wanted to see him. Reluctant to lose Robeson as

13493-510: The spring of 1922, Robeson postponed school to portray Jim in Mary Hoyt Wiborg 's play Taboo . He then sang in the chorus of an Off-Broadway production of Shuffle Along before he joined Taboo in Britain. The play was adapted by Mrs Patrick Campbell to highlight his singing. After the play's run ended, he befriended Lawrence Benjamin Brown , a classically trained musician, before returning to Columbia while playing for

13624-545: The struggle against fascism during the Spanish Civil War was a turning point in his life and transformed him into a political activist. In 1937, he used his concert performances to advocate the Republican cause and the war's refugees. He permanently modified his renditions of "Ol' Man River" – initially, by singing the word "darkies" instead of "niggers"; later, by changing some of the stereotypical dialect in

13755-444: The style of several of the films of Ingmar Bergman . More generally, the term expressionism can be used to describe cinematic styles of great artifice, such as the technicolor melodramas of Douglas Sirk or the sound and visual design of David Lynch 's films. Two leading Expressionist journals published in Berlin were Der Sturm , published by Herwarth Walden starting in 1910, and Die Aktion , which first appeared in 1911 and

13886-721: The summer production in 1941 at the Ivoryton Playhouse, Ivoryton, Ct. The show was again revived in 1926 at the Mayfair Theatre in Manhattan, with Gilpin again starring as Jones and also co-directing the show with James Light . The production, which ran for 61 performances, is noted for the acting debut of a young Moss Hart as Smithers. The Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration launched several productions of

14017-421: The term Expressionism did not firmly establish itself until 1913. Though mainly a German artistic movement initially and most predominant in painting, poetry and the theatre between 1910 and 1930, most precursors of the movement were not German. Furthermore, there have been expressionist writers of prose fiction, as well as non-German-speaking expressionist writers, and, while the movement declined in Germany with

14148-453: The widespread Jim Crow atmosphere in the United States. Upon returning to England, he publicly criticized African Americans ' rejection of their own culture . Despite negative reactions from the press, such as a New York Amsterdam News retort that Robeson had made a "jolly well [ass of himself]", he also announced that he would reject any offers to perform central European (though not Russian, which he considered "Asiatic") opera because

14279-501: The work of American artist Marsden Hartley , who met Kandinsky in Germany in 1913. In late 1939, at the beginning of World War II , New York City received many European artists. After the war, Expressionism influenced many young American artists. Norris Embry (1921–1981) studied with Oskar Kokoschka in 1947 and during the next 43 years produced a large body of work in the Expressionist tradition. Embry has been termed "the first American German Expressionist". Other American artists of

14410-534: The wounded soldiers. Robeson also visited the battlefront and provided a morale boost to the Republicans at a time when their victory was unlikely. Back in England, he hosted Jawaharlal Nehru to support Indian independence , whereat Nehru expounded on imperialism's affiliation with Fascism. Robeson reevaluated the direction of his career and decided to focus on the ordeals of "common people". He appeared in

14541-457: Was Béla Bartók in early works, written in the second decade of the 20th century, such as Bluebeard's Castle (1911), The Wooden Prince (1917), and The Miraculous Mandarin (1919). Important precursors of expressionism are Richard Wagner (1813–1883), Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), and Richard Strauss (1864–1949). Theodor Adorno describes expressionism as concerned with the unconscious, and states that "the depiction of fear lies at

14672-423: Was a dominant influence on early 20th-century German theatre, of which Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller were the most famous playwrights. Other notable Expressionist dramatists included Reinhard Sorge , Walter Hasenclever , Hans Henny Jahnn , and Arnolt Bronnen . Important precursors were the Swedish playwright August Strindberg and German actor and dramatist Frank Wedekind. During the 1920s, Expressionism enjoyed

14803-509: Was a member of the Bustills , a prominent Quaker family of mixed ancestry. His father, William, was of Igbo origin and was born into slavery. William escaped from a plantation in his teens and eventually became the minister of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881. Robeson had three brothers: William Drew Jr. (born 1881), Reeve (born c. 1887), and Ben (born c. 1893); and one sister, Marian (born c. 1895). In 1900,

14934-402: Was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa and Cap and Skull . His classmates recognized him by electing him class valedictorian. The Daily Targum published a poem featuring his achievements. In his valedictory speech, he exhorted his classmates to work for equality for all Americans. At Rutgers, Robeson also gained a reputation for his singing, having a deep rich voice which some saw as bass with

15065-497: Was active for a longer period than Der Blaue Reiter, which was only together for a year (1912). The Expressionists were influenced by artists and sources including Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh and African art . They were also aware of the work being done by the Fauves in Paris, who influenced Expressionism's tendency toward arbitrary colours and jarring compositions. In reaction and opposition to French Impressionism, which emphasized

15196-551: Was an Expressionist style in German cinema, important examples of which are Robert Wiene 's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Paul Wegener 's The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920), Fritz Lang 's Metropolis (1927) and F. W. Murnau 's Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922) and The Last Laugh (1924). The term "expressionist" is also sometimes used to refer to stylistic devices thought to resemble those of German Expressionism, such as film noir cinematography or

15327-540: Was described as restless and emotional by Frenkel. These artists, centered in the Montparnasse district of Paris tended to portray human subjects and humanity, evoking emotion through facial expression. Others focused on the expression of mood rather than a formal structure. The art of Jewish expressionists was characterized as dramatic and tragic, perhaps in connection to Jewish suffering following persecution and pogroms. The ideas of German expressionism influenced

15458-456: Was directed by the Canadian director Ted Kotcheff and adapted by the American "beat" novelist Terry Southern in his first screenwriting job. Unlike other British television versions, it still exists, and has been released on DVD. It was adapted for Australian television in 1960 . An experimental video by Christopher Kondek and Elizabeth LeCompte showcases the production of the play by

15589-489: Was edited by Franz Pfemfert . Der Sturm published poetry and prose from contributors such as Peter Altenberg , Max Brod , Richard Dehmel , Alfred Döblin , Anatole France , Knut Hamsun , Arno Holz, Karl Kraus , Selma Lagerlöf , Adolf Loos , Heinrich Mann , Paul Scheerbart , and René Schickele , and writings, drawings, and prints by such artists as Kokoschka , Kandinsky, and members of Der blaue Reiter . Oskar Kokoschka 's 1909 playlet, Murderer, The Hope of Women

15720-603: Was hugely popular, touring in the States with this cast for the next two years. Although Gilpin continued to perform the role of Brutus Jones in the US tour that followed the Broadway closing of the play, he eventually had a falling out with O'Neill. Gilpin wanted O'Neill to remove the word "nigger," which occurred frequently in the play, but the playwright felt its use was consistent with his dramatic intentions. Further, O'Neill defended

15851-502: Was included in the Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. as a target for arrest if Germany had occupied Britain. Robeson's last British film was The Proud Valley (1940), set in a Welsh coal-mining town. The film was still being shot when Hitler's invasion of Poland led to England's declaration of war at the beginning of September 1939; several weeks later, just after the completion of filming, Robeson and his family returned to

15982-453: Was modeled on Adam Scott, an African-American and close friend of O'Neill's. Scott tended bar at O'Neill's favorite tavern, at the rear of Holt's Grocery on Main Street, in his hometown of New London , Connecticut . In their biography of O'Neill, Arthur and Barbara Gelb report that, Scott's imperious personality so impressed O'Neill that he later borrowed it for The Emperor Jones . While

16113-574: Was named by American Motion Picture Herald as the 10th most popular star in British cinema. In 1935, Robeson met Albert Einstein when Einstein came backstage after Robeson's concert at the McCarter Theatre . The two discovered that, as well as a mutual passion for music, they shared a hatred for fascism . The friendship between Robeson and Einstein lasted nearly twenty years, but was not well known or publicized. Robeson believed that

16244-643: Was no public evidence that their relationship had soured. The couple appeared in the experimental Swiss film Borderline (1930). He then returned to the Savoy Theatre , in London's West End to play Othello , opposite Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona . He cited the lack of a "racial problem" in London as significant in his decision to move to London. Robeson was the first black actor to play Othello in Britain since Ira Aldridge . The production received mixed reviews which noted Robeson's "highly civilized quality [but lacking the] grand style". Robeson stated

16375-539: Was notable for having an actor play the part of Jones who was female, white, and performed in blackface ( Kate Valk ). Blackface had been a suggestion for the original production, which O'Neill vetoed. In 2005 Thea Sharrock directed the play, with Paterson Joseph in the title role, for the Bush Theatre in London. The audience looked down into a sand-filled pit. The claustrophic effect was admired by Michael Billington among others. The production transferred to

16506-597: Was only during the 1970s that Expressionism in architecture came to be re-evaluated more positively. Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( / ˈ r oʊ b s ən / ROHB -sən ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political stances. In 1915, Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey , where he

16637-518: Was represented in propagandist popular prints . These were often unimpressive aesthetically but had the capacity to arouse extreme emotions in the viewer. Expressionism has been likened to Baroque by critics such as art historian Michel Ragon and German philosopher Walter Benjamin . According to Alberto Arbasino , a difference between the two is that "Expressionism doesn't shun the violently unpleasant effect, while Baroque does. Expressionism throws some terrific 'fuck yous', Baroque doesn't. Baroque

16768-693: Was summoned for a Royal Command Performance at Buckingham Palace and Robeson was befriended by Members of Parliament (MPs) from the House of Commons . Show Boat continued for 350 performances and, as of 2001, it remained the Royal's most profitable venture. The Robesons bought a home in Hampstead . He reflected on his life in his diary and wrote that it was all part of a "higher plan" and "God watches over me and guides me. He's with me and lets me fight my own battles and hopes I'll win." However, an incident at

16899-459: Was the spiritual " Steal Away ", backed with " Were You There ", in 1925. Robeson's recorded repertoire spanned many styles, including Americana, popular standards, classical music, European folk songs, political songs, poetry and spoken excerpts from plays. Robeson was born in Princeton , New Jersey , in 1898, to Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill . His mother, Maria,

17030-408: Was the first actor to play the role of Brutus Jones on stage. There was some conflict over Gilpin's tendency to change O'Neill's use of the word "nigger" to Negro and colored during the play. This production was O'Neill's first real smash hit. The Players' small theater was too small to cope with audience demand for tickets, and the play was transferred to another theater. It ran for 204 performances and

17161-597: Was the only African-American student. While at Rutgers, he was twice named a consensus All-American in football and was elected class valedictorian. He earned his LL.B. from Columbia Law School , while playing in the National Football League (NFL). After graduation, he became a figure in the Harlem Renaissance , with performances in Eugene O'Neill 's The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings . Robeson performed in Britain in

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