Brent has a Ph.D. in American Culture, specializing in film studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in the history of American cinema. In the following essay, Brent discusses the use of humor in Childress's play.

Wine in the Wilderness is subtitled "A Comedy-Drama." Throughout the play, Childress utilizes the element of comedy to highlight her central thematic concerns, such as the nature of political and social action, male-female relationships, and class divisions within the African-American community. Although Childress is quite serious about these concerns, she makes use of humor both for its entertainment value and as a means of accenting these themes in a light-hearted manner.

One element of humor in Wine in the Wilderness centers around the characters' ironic commentary on the riot, which has been raging around them, and which has now abated. Bill, in particular...