Ed Bullins is an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. He was also the Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. In addition, he has won numerous awards, including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obies

Obies

Obies is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...

. He is one of the best known playwrights to come from the Black Arts Movement

Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts Movement or BAM is the artistic branch of the Black Power movement. It was started in Harlem by writer and activist Amiri Baraka...

. Bullin's most ambitious playwriting undertaking was his Twentieth-Century Play Cycle, a proposed cycle of twenty plays representing the full gamut of African-American experience.

Early life and education

Bullins was born July 2, 1935 in Philadelphia, PA. His parents were Bertha Marie Queen and Edward Bullins. He was raised primarily by his mother. As a child he attended predominantly white schools and became involved with gangs. He attended Franklin High School, where he was stabbed in a gang-related incident. Shortly thereafter, he quit high school and joined the navy. During this period he won a boxing championship and started reading. He returned to Philadelphia and enrolled in night school. He stayed until 1958 when he went to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 leaving behind a wife and children. After receiving his G.E.D., he enrolled in Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...

 and he began writing short stories for the Citadel, a magazine he created. In 1964, he went to San Francisco and joined the creative writing program at San Francisco State College. This is where he started writing plays. His first play was How do You Do, immediately followed by Clara's Ole Man and Dialect Determinism.

Black House

After seeing Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...

's play Dutchman

Dutchman (play)

Dutchman is a play written by African-American playwright Amiri Baraka. It played at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village, New York in March 1964 and won an Obie Award. Made into a film in 1967, Dutchman was the last play produced by Baraka under his birth name, LeRoi Jones...

, Bullins felt that Baraka's artistic purpose was similar to his own. As a result, he joined Baraka at "Black House", BAM's cultural center, which included Sonia Sanchez

Sonia Sanchez

Sonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books...

, Huey Newton, poet Marvin X, and others. The Black House strongly believed in the concept of "Protest Theatre". The Black Panthers used Black House as their base in San Francisco, which briefly allowed Bullins to be their Minister of Culture. Eventually, Black House found itself split into two factions. One group considered art to be a weapon and advocated joining with whites to achieve political ends. The other group saw art as a form of cultural nationalism and didn't want to work with whites. Bullins was a part of the latter group, which turned out to be the losing side. As a result, he left.

New Lafayette Players

Robert Macbeth

Robert Macbeth

Robert Macbeth was an English footballer who played in The Football League for Accrington, Northwich Victoria and Rotherham Town.-References:...

read Bullins' plays and asked him to join the New Lafayette Players, a newly formed theatrical group located in Harlem. The first plays they performed were a trilogy called The Electronic Nigger and Others (later changed to Ed Bullins Plays for what the playwright acknowledged were "financial reasons"). The three plays earned Bullins a Drama Desk Award

Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

 for 1968. Bullins stayed with the Lafayette Players until 1972 when they had to fold due to a lack of funds. During his stay ten of his plays were produced by the Players including In the Wine Time and Goin A Buffalo.

Later career

After leaving the Lafayette Players, Bullins and his family remained in the Bronx. In 1973 he was an in-residence playwright for the American Place Theatre. From 1975-1983, he was on staff at the New York Shakespeare Festival

New York Shakespeare Festival

New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...

 at the Public Theatre Writers' Unit. During that time Bullins wrote two children's plays I am Lucy Terry and The Mystery of Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American poet and first African-American woman whose writings were published. Born in Gambia, Senegal, she was sold into slavery at age seven...

. He also wrote books for two musicals: Sepia Star and Storyville. He returned to school and received a bachelor's degree in English and Playwriting from Antioch University

Antioch University

Antioch University is an American university with five campuses located in four states. Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide...

 in San Francisco. In 1995, he became a professor at Northeastern University, where is currently a distinguished Artist-in-Residence.

Other work

In addition to Bullins many plays, he also tried his hand at short stories and novels, including The Hungered One and The Reluctant Rapist. The latter features a sort of twin or alter ego of Bullins named Steve Benson, who is featured in many of Bullins' works.

Criticism

Many critics saw his early works in a favorable light, but many thought they were too violent and depicted African-Americans in a negative way. One issue was whether or not black writers should challenge revolutionary activity without providing alternative directions and resolutions. Several black critics rallied to defend Bullins and attacked white critics for using "white" notions of good drama to evaluate black art.

Awards

Ed Bullins has received numerous awards for playwriting He received an Obie Award

Obie Award

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...

 for distinguished playwriting for The Taking of Miss Janie, which also received a New York Drama Critics Circle Award and twice received the Black Arts Alliance Award (for The Fabulous Miss Marie and In the New England Winter). In 1971, Bullins won the Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

 for playwriting. In 1975, he won the Drama Desk-Vernon Rice Award, an Obie for The Taking of Miss Janie, four Rockefeller Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

 playwriting grants, and two National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

 playwriting grants.

Selected bibliography

Anthologies

• Five Plays, (includes: Goin’ a Buffalo; In the Wine Time; A Son, Come Home; The Electronic Nigger; Clara’s Ole Man.) Bobbs-Merrill (1969)
• Four Dynamite Plays, (includes: It Bees Dat Way; Death List; The Pig Pen; Night of the Beast), W. Morrow (1972)
• The Hungered One, Akashic Books (2009) ISBN 978-1-933354-66-8
• The Reluctant Rapist, Harper & Row (1973) ISBN 0-06-010579-8
• The Theme is Blackness ("The Corner" and other plays.) W. Morrow, (1973) ISBN 0-688-05012-3

Individual Plays

• "Dialect Determinism". Alexander Street Press, 2010. Alexandria, VA . Published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "How Do You Do". Alexander Street Press (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1965 Published in Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing, Baraka, Amiri and Neal, Larry, eds., William Morrow, New York, NY, 1968.
• "Goin' a Buffalo." Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1966 Published in Black Theatre, U.S.A.:Plays By African Americans: The Recent Period, 1935-Today, revised and expanded edition, Hatch, James V. and Shine, Ted, eds., The Free Press, New York, NY, 1996.
• "The Helper". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1966 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "It Has No Choice." Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1966 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "A Minor Scene." Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1966 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "Black Commercial #2". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1967 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "The Corner". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1967 Also published in Black Drama Anthology, King, Woodie, Jr. and Milner, Ron, eds., New American Library, New York, NY, 1986.
• "The Electronic Nigger". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1967 Also published in New American Plays, vol. 3, Hill & Wang, New York, NY, 1970.
• "The Man Who Dug Fish". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1967 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "A Son, Come Home". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1968 Also published in New American Plays, vol. 3, Hill & Wang, New York, NY, 1970.
• "We Righteous Bombers". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1968 Also published in New Plays From the Black Theatre, Bullins, Ed, ed., Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1969.
• "The American Flag Ritual". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1969 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "The Gentleman Caller". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1969 Also published in Contemporary Black Drama: From A Raisin In the Sun to No Place To Be Somebody, Oliver, Clinton F. and Sills, Stephanie, eds., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1971.
• "In New England Winter". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1969 Also published in New Plays From the Black Theatre, Bullins, Ed, ed., Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1969.
• "One-Minute Commercial". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1969 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "State Office Bldg. Curse". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1969 Also published in The Theme Is Blackness: The Corner and Other Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1973.
• "You Gonna Let Me Take You Out Tonight, Baby?". Alexander Street Press, 2010. Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1969 Also published in Black Arts: An Anthology of Black Creations, Alhamisi, Ahmed and Wangara, Harun Kofi, eds., Black Arts Publications, Detroit, MI, 1969.
• "Death List". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1970 Also published in Four Dynamite Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1972.
• "The Devil Catchers". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1970
• "The Duplex". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1970 Also published in The Duplex: A Black Love Fable in Four Movements, William Morrow and Company, New York, NY, 1971.
• "The Pig Pen". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1970 Also published in Four Dynamite Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1972.
• "Malcolm: '71, or, Publishing Blackness". Alexander Street Press, 2010. Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1971
• "Night of the Beast". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1971 Also published in Four Dynamite Plays, Morrow, New York, NY, 1972.
• "The Psychic Pretenders". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1972
• "House Party". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1973
• "I Am Lucy Terry". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1975 Also published in New / Lost Plays by Ed Bullins: An Anthology, Walker, Ethel Pitts, ed., That New Publishing Company, Aiea, HI, 1993.
• "The Taking of Miss Janie". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1975 Also published in Famous American Plays of the 1970s, Hoffman, Ted, ed., Dell, New York, NY, 1988.
• "Home Boy". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1976
• "The Mystery of Phillis Wheatley". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1976 Also published in New / Lost Plays by Ed Bullins: An Anthology, Walker, Ethel Pitts, ed., That New Publishing Company, Aiea, HI, 1993.
• "Daddy, Or The Prince of Darkness". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1977
• "Sepia Star". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA .
• "C'mon Back to Heavenly House". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1978
• "City Preacher". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1984 Also published in New / Lost Plays by Ed Bullins: An Anthology, Walker, Ethel Pitts, ed., That New Publishing Company, Aiea, HI, 1993.
• "High John Da Conqueror". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1985 Also published in New / Lost Plays by Ed Bullins: An Anthology, Walker, Ethel Pitts, ed., That New Publishing Company, Aiea, HI, 1993.
• "A Sunday Afternoon". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1987
• "Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1990 Also published in New / Lost Plays by Ed Bullins: An Anthology, Walker, Ethel Pitts, ed., That New Publishing Company, Aiea, HI, 1993.
• "Dr. Geechee and the Blood Junkies". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1996
• "Mtumi X". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 1999
• "Boy Times Man". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 2000
• "King Aspelta: A Nubian Coronation". Alexander Street Press, 2010. Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 2000
• "A Ten Minute Play". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA . © Ed Bullins, 2001
• "Blacklist". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA .
• "The Doorway". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA .
• "Snickers". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA .
• "Spaces". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA .
• "That Day". Alexander Street Press, (2010). Alexandria, VA .

External links