Vinnette Justine Carroll

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Vinnette Justine Carroll
African-American woman to direct on Broadway

Vinnette Justine Carroll (March 11, 1922 – November 5, 2002) was an American

Tony Award nomination for direction.[1]

Life and work

Carroll was born in New York City to Edgar Edgerton, a dentist, and Florence (Morris) Carroll.[1] She moved to Jamaica with her family at the age of three, and spent much of her childhood there. Brought back to New York at the age of 10, she and her two sisters were the only black students at their New York public school.[2] Her mother was a strong presence who played Arturo Toscanini in the home and disciplined her three daughters wisely.[3] Her father encouraged his daughters to become physicians. Carroll compromised by studying psychology.[2]

She left the field of psychology to study theater, and in 1948 accepted a scholarship to attend Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research. There, she studied with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Margaret Barker, and Susan Steele.

Carroll later founded the Urban Arts Corps, a

Edward Noble Foundation, and CBS.[6] Urban Arts Corps productions included Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, Jean-Paul Sartre'sThe Flies, and William Hanley's Slow Dance on a Killing Ground, among many others.[7] The theater provided a space to "nurture emerging playwrights and showcase their works."[8]

In 1968, Carroll joined the

John B. Hightower. She had previously been appointed director of the Ghetto Arts Program for the State of New York.[9]

Education

Carroll attended

industrial psychology, and was awarded a scholarship to do postgraduate work at the New School for Social Research in 1948.[3]

Her philosophy of directing and her technique for creating her

folk plays reflect similar theories, ideas, and aesthetic principles to those of Bertolt Brecht.[11] She also promoted the principles of Erwin Piscator's "objective style of performance". After working with Piscator, she studied at Strasberg's studio between 1948 and 1950.[12] The juxtaposition of these opposing styles led to Carroll's own technique in creating her new style of folk drama.[11]

Acting career

Carroll's first stage appearance was at the New School for Social Research in 1948.

Agamemnon, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland. Carroll made her professional stage debut as a Christian in a summer stock production of George Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the Lion at the Southold Playhouse on Long Island.[13] She played Addie in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes and then, in 1949, Bella in Arnaud d'Ussaeu and James Gow's Deep Are the Roots.[14]

In 1955, Carroll joined the faculty of the

one-woman show and toured the United States and the West Indies
until 1957.

She made her

Emmy Award for Beyond the Blues, which dramatized the works of Black poets.[17] She later returned to London with her company and performed in Peter Wessel Zapffe'sThe Prodigal Son.[15]

As a playwright and director

During her era, Carroll was one of the few women directing in commercial theatre.

Harold Scott
.

In 1972, she became the first

Gospel According to Matthew.[21]

Carroll did not dwell on her role as a female director because she felt it would be self-defeating.[22] Through her effort and talent, she provided communities with illustrations of unity through her productions. Her contributions as an artist and playwright are often overlooked. However, she is known for the reinvention of song-play, which was revitalized in many of her theater works. The expression of identity through gospel music in the African-American theater experience is clearly delineated in the development of song-play.[23] Her work was about the reaffirmation of life and people. Common stereotypes of African Americans led Carroll "into creating and directing new works that positively and artistically presented people of color in theater and art."[13] Her primary interest was giving voice to African Americans and other minority communities that have been culturally and artistically silenced.[9] Carroll once said of her career: "They told me that I had one-third less chance because I was a woman; they told me I had one-third less chance again because I was black, but I tell you, I did one hell of a lot with that remaining one-third."[5]

Retirement and death

Carroll moved to

heart disease and diabetes in Lauderhill, Florida, on November 5, 2002, at the age of 80.[25]

Plays

Directing credits

See also

  • List of African-American firsts

References

  1. ^ a b McClinton, Calvin A. The Work of Vinnette Carroll, An African American Theatre Artist. Edwin Mellen Press, 2000.
  2. ^ a b Shirley, Don (November 7, 2002). "Vinnette Carroll, 80; Pioneering Theater Director". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Karen L. (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 2.
  4. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. vi.
  5. ^ a b James V. Hatch, "From Hansberry to Shange", in Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch (eds), A History of African American Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 401.
  6. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, 1975, pp. 54–55.
  7. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. v.
  8. Greenwood Press
    , p. 189.
  9. ^ a b Conyers, James (2000). Black Lives: Essays in African American Biography. Vol. 23, No. 4, p. 22.
  10. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 3.
  11. ^ a b Conyers (2000). Black Lives: Essays in African American Biography. Vol. 23, No. 4, p. 25.
  12. ^ a b Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 4.
  13. ^ a b c d Conyers (2000). Black Lives: Essays in African American Biography. Vol. 23, No. 4, p. 21.
  14. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 5.
  15. ^ a b Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 6.
  16. ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0509940/?ref_=tt_ch
  17. ^ Hofler, Robert (November 6, 2002). "Vinnette Carroll". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  18. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 10.
  19. ^ Conyers (2000). Black Lives: Essays in African American Biography. Vol. 23, No. 4, p. x.
  20. ^ Jones, Kenneth (November 6, 2002). "Vinnette Carroll, Tony-Nommed Creator of Your Arms Too Short..., Dead at 80". Playbill. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  21. ^ "Vinnette Carroll, 80". Chicago Tribune. November 8, 2002. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  22. ^ Smith (1975), Vinnette Carroll: Portrait of an Artist in Motion, p. 52.
  23. ^ Conyers (2000). Black Lives: Essays in African American Biography. Vol. 23, No. 4, p. 19.
  24. ^ Nelson (ed.) (2004). African-American Dramatists: An A to Z Guide, p. 90.
  25. ^ McKinley, Jesse (November 7, 2002). "Vinnette Carroll, Playwright And Director, Is Dead at 80". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2023.

External links

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