Overview
Synopsis
Lester Mason is twenty years old and the future is his -- until he is denied a scholarship because of the color of his skin. He cries out, “Seems like the world ain’t nothing but a big white fog, and we can’t see no light nowhere.” The year is 1922, and racism is rampant in the United States of America. Despite the challenges, Lester’s father, Victor, has a dream. He is a Garveyite, and he wants to move his family to Africa, where his forebearers originated. Not everyone in his family, however, wants to leave America. Nonetheless, Victor persists, pursuing his dream with a single mindedness that, combined with the Great Depression and the racism of the time, drives his family to a tragic fate. With drama and poignancy, Theodore Ward’s Big White Fog challenges our preconceptions of what it means to live the American Dream.
Show Information
- Book
- Theodore Ward
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1938
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- the home of victor and ella mason on dearborn street, chicago’s south side, 1922-1932
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- None
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Nick Hern Books
- Ideal For
- professional theatre, university / college theatre, community theatre, amateur theatre, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Young Adult, Early Teen, Late Teen, Mature Adult Characters, Large Cast
Context
The Progamme note for a reading of Big White Fog in NYC in 1980. Theodore Ward
As a young man, travelling across the United States, hoboing on a westbound freight train through the Rocky Mountains, I found myself at the Great Horseshoe Bend. Seated in the open doorway of the boxcar in which I was riding, I was enthralled by the overpowering beauty and strength of the towering hills, and the vast declivity to the valley beneath with its shrubbery of gold and red and brown bathed in the light
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Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Silent |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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