Introduction & Overview of Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage

Blues for an Alabama Sky Introduction

In a preface to the published version of her play Blues for an Alabama Sky, Cleage comments, "I still believe that theatre has a ritual power to call forth the spirits, illuminate the darkness and speak the truth to the people."

Blues for an Alabama Sky was first produced in 1995. In 1996, it was performed during the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games as part of the Cultural Olympiad. The play is set in Harlem, New York City, in 1930, at a time when, as Cleage states, "The creative euphoria of the Harlem Renaissance has given way to the harsher realities of the Great Depression." Angel is a struggling blues singer and nightclub performer who cannot find a job. Her friend Guy, a costume designer, is also out of work but dreams of being hired to design dresses for the famous African-American singer and dancer Josephine Baker, who is living...
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