Images,Miller compensates for this missing dia-
logue by creating a distressing interaction between
Miriam and Zipporah’s youngest son. Ithamar
turns on his cousin and provokes the violent dia-
logue between the aunt and Eliezer, her recently
arrived nephew. Without hesitation, she chal-
lenges both his status as an object worthy of idol-
ization and his status as a person worthy of social
position. “This child is no image of God. Jeho-
vah,” she declares, “He is black like his mother.”
She pulls him off the platform and chastises him
forcefully: “Black one, you had best hide your
shame from the followers of your father and not
place your complexion where all may see,” she
tells the child. Her tirade continues in her conver-
sations with Aaron. She encourages her brother to
prepare for his ascension and argues that Moses’s
marriage invalidates him as a worthy leader. In
one of the baldest racist statements in the play,
Miller’s Miriam declares that “He should lead Is-
rael who is truly an Israelite, one uncontaminated
by Ethiopian blood.” The racial hysteria that
Miller introduces here taps into black Jewish iden-
tity as well as American anxieties about misce-
genation and racial purity.
In the final scenes, Moses exiles the leprous
Miriam from the camp for seven days. Eliezer
emerges as a resilient and willful heir to his father’s
influence. The play closes as the child reinstates
his position as a worthy idol. He “sits hugging his
knees in delight in anticipation of the coming
sport” promised by the imminent arrival of his
now-chastened and awed playmates who believe
that he, like his father, has the ability to articulate
God’s will.
“Graven Images” reflected Miller’s lifelong ef-
forts to illuminate the enduring presence of
African and African-American figures throughout
history. The play also reflected Miller’s penchant
for direct discussion of problematic issues and her
use of drama to catalyze audiences and debates
about privilege, power, and history.
Bibliography
Boyd, Valerie. Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora
Neale Hurston.New York: Scribner, 2003.
Richardson, Willis. Plays and Pageants from the Life of the
Negro.Washington, D.C.: The Associated Publish-
ers, Inc., 1930.
Great DayJohn Wells(1929)
A musical play based on the novel of the same
name by John Wells that debuted at the Cos-
mopolitan Theatre on BROADWAY in October- Great Dayfeatured some actors in blackface
and variations of the script. The drama was set in
New Orleans, Louisiana, and the characters were
embroiled in Louisiana romance, gambling es-
capades, and the chaos caused when a sugar plan-
tation was flooded by the Mississippi River.
William Cary Duncan wrote the libretto, Vin-
cent Youmans composed the music, and William
Rose created the lyrics. Actors Flournoy Miller and
Aubrey Lyles appeared in blackface during the
play’s October 1929 Broadway run.
Great Day, TheZora Neale Hurston(1932)
A dynamic and multifaceted cultural performance
scripted by ZORANEALEHURSTONand performed
in a one-time show at the John Golden Theatre on
West 58th Street in NEWYORKCITY. The work,
originally entitled “In the Beginning: A Concert of
Negro Secular Music,” included dancers and
Negro spirituals and lullabies. The performance in-
cluded two major plots. The first revolved around
the lives of workers building a railroad in Florida
and featured a number of popular work songs such
as “John Henry.” As Hurston biographer Valerie
Boyd notes, Hurston’s presentation of these stirring
lyrics illuminated the ways in which these songs
constituted impressive declarations of African-
American political and cultural strength. The sec-
ond major plot featured in the performance was set
in a rousing juke joint. Performers thrilled the au-
dience at the John Golden Theatre with renditions
of well-known blues songs. The final portions of
the performance included the Fire Dance, based
on Hurston’s research in the Bahamas, and a finale
that involved a celebratory counterpoint in which
singers traded verses of secular and religious songs.
The production, advertised as a single perfor-
mance only, was enthusiastically reviewed. The
New York Herald Tribunepraised the work, citing
its “verve” and “lack of self-consciousness.” It in-
cluded performances by well-known actors such as
Leigh Whipper, who performed in INABRAHAM’S
BOSOM,the 1927 PULITZERPRIZE–winning play by
Hurston’s friend PAULGREEN.196 Great Day