The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World...

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World...

Full-Length Play, Satire/Political Satire  /  5w, 6m

The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead

A woman tries to feed her husband a fried drumstick. Dragons roam a flat earth. The last Black man in the whole entire world dies again. And again. 

Image: 2016 Signature Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World...

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w, 6m
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
A woman tries to feed her husband a fried drumstick. Dragons roam a flat earth. The last Black man in the whole entire world dies again. And again. Careening through memory and language, Parks explores and explodes archetypes of Black America with piercing insight and raucous comedy. A riotous theatrical event, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World hums with the heartbeat of improvisational jazz.
Cast Attributes
  • Duration 75 Minutes

Media

“Hypnotic! A fever dream from which there is truly no waking.” – The New York Times

“Haunting! Weaves a woozy spell.” – Variety

“Uncompromising, strenuous and stylistically daring.” – Newsday

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

Scene Study and Classroom Reading: Plays for Colleges and Universities
by Becca Schlossberg
August 23, 2019

Photos

  • The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World...

    Image: 2016 Signature Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $120 per performance

Add-Ons

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Authors

Suzan-Lori Parks

Named one of Time magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New Wave,” in 2002 Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her Broadway hit Topdog/Underdog.

A MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient, she has also been awarded gr ...

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