Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Or: A Closer Look At The Form and Construction Of Storytelling To The Tune Of The Blues
Throughout history, many cultures have passed down stories through oral tradition. Though the manner in which spoken word is delivered has changed over time, the fundamental core of the timeless tradition has stayed the same; Words have power. They can be used to spread joy, hope, and keep entire cultures alive. August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, focuses on the power of the blues to tell the stories of numerous African-American individuals, as they struggle to find meaning and justice in an unfair society dominated by a hateful majority.
Set in 1927, the play takes place entirely in a recording studio. There is no
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Wilson constructs his play much like a blues song. His play, in essence, is cyclical in nature. No matter what the band members attempt to change the subject to, they always revert back to arguing. Whenever they attempt to rehearse, they cannot get more than a few bars in before someone (usually Levee) pipes up that something is not right with the piece. Additionally, most, if not all of the conversations between the African-American characters of the play take on a sort of call-and-response loop. One character accuses the other of something, to which he or she must immediately respond and defend himself or herself. The statements of each character are dependent on what the other characters have said before them; that is to say, most conversations between the African-American characters throughout the course of the play only occur due to some sort of accusation or inflammatory remark from another African-American