The Great White Hope
The Great White Hope | |
---|---|
Written by | Howard Sackler |
Characters |
|
Date premiered | 1967 |
Place premiered | Arena Stage Washington, D.C. |
Original language | English |
Subject | Pugilism; racism |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | years before and during WWI |
The Great White Hope is a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, later adapted in 1970 for a film of the same name.[1][2]
The play was first produced by
The play is based on the true story of Jack Johnson (fictionalized under the character name "Jack Jefferson") and his fight against Jim Jeffries, Johnson's first wife, Etta Terry Duryea, the controversy over their marriage and Duryea's death by suicide in 1912.[3]
Background
While the play is often described as being thematically about racism, this is not how Sackler viewed his work. Though not denying the racist issues confronted in the play, Sackler once said in an interview, "What interested me was not the topicality but the combination of circumstances, the destiny of a man pitted against society. It's a metaphor of struggle between man and the outside world. Some people spoke of the play as if it were a cliché of white liberalism, but I kept to the line straight through, of showing that it wasn't a case of blacks being good and whites being bad. I was appalled at the first reaction."[4]
In a comment, reflecting on both the racist theme dealt with in the play and Sackler's notion that the play is about a man fighting society, Muhammad Ali, greatly impressed with James Earl Jones' performance in the play, reportedly commented to the actor, "Hey! This play is about me! Take out the interracial love stuff and Jack Johnson is the original me!"[5] He added, "You just change the time, date and the details and it's about me!"[6] Ali was fighting being drafted into the Army at the time on grounds of being a conscientious objector.[7]
Productions
The Great White Hope premiered at the Arena Stage in December 1967.[8][9][10]
The initial production at Arena Stage, paid for in part by two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, was so well-received that the entire original cast, including James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander, moved to Broadway.[11] It was the first time the cast of a regional theater production was brought to Broadway.[7] The play opened on Broadway on October 3, 1968, and closed on January 31, 1970, after 546 performances.[12] Using proceeds from his screenwriting contract, Sackler substantially funded the Broadway production by investing a reported US$225,000.[4] In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Jones won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and Alexander won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, as well as the Drama Desk Award for each, for their respective portrayals of Jack Jefferson and Eleanor Bachman.[12][13] A recording of the production was released by Tetragrammaton Records.
Yaphet Kotto replaced Jones[14] and Maria Tucci replaced Alexander on September 8, 1969.[15]
In 2000, Arena Stage mounted a new production of The Great White Hope in honor of the theater's 50th season.[7]
Film adaptation
The Great White Hope was adapted by Sackler for a film released in 1970, directed by
In the movie, the role of "the Kid," or the "great white hope," was played by professional heavyweight boxer James J. Beattie (6'9", 240 pounds), the #10-ranked world heavyweight contender and an Ali sparring partner.
"The Great White Hope"
The term, "the great white hope," reflects the racism and segregation of the era in which Jack Johnson fought. Johnson, the first
The first "great white hope" boxer to accept the challenge was
Awards and nominations
- 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- 1969 Tony Award for Best Play (Winner)
- 1969 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, James Earl Jones (Winner)
- 1969 Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic), Jane Alexander (Winner)
- 1969 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play (Winner)
- 1969 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director, Edwin Sherin (Winner)
- 1969 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance, James Earl Jones (Winner)
- 1969 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance, Jane Alexander (Winner)
References
- ^ Clive Barnes (October 4, 1968). "Theater: Howard Sackler's 'Great White Hope'" (PDF). The New York Times.
- ^ Vincent Canby (October 12, 1970). "'Great White Hope' Brought to Screen". The New York Times.
- ^ Unforgivable Blackness Retrieved May 11, 2016
- ^ a b Lawson, Carol (October 15, 1982). "Howard Sackler, 52, Playwright Who Won Pulitzer Prize, Dead". The New York Times.
- ^ Hamill, Pete (October 25, 1968). "Muhammad Ali: 'This is about Me'". Life. p. 68.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Ghost in the House: Jack Johnson's Legacy". PBS. January 11, 2005. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
- ^ "Arena Stage History, see 1967-68" arenastage.org, accessed September 15, 2015
- ^ "Great White Hope' Will Open On Oct. 3", The New York Times, May 10, 1968, p.5
- ISSN 0362-4331, p.57
- ^ "Arena Stage Takes a Risk on The Great White Hope". National Endowment for the Arts. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
- ^ a b "'The Great White Hope' Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed September 15, 2015
- ^ a b "The Great White Hope". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ "Yaphet Kotto Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed September 15, 2015
- ^ "Maria Tucci Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed September 15, 2015
- ^ a b "Boxer's Triumph". Time. July 15, 1940. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
Further reading
- Sackler, Howard (1968). The Great White Hope, A Play. New York, NY: The Dial Press. OCLC 451597.