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Adrienne Kennedy Biography (1931-)

Full name, Adrienne Lita Kennedy; born September 13, 1931, in Pittsburgh, PA;daughter of Cornell Wallace and Etta (Haugabook) Hawkins; married Joseph C.Kennedy, May 15, 1953; children: Joseph C., Adam. Addresses: Office--Department of Afro-American Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. Agent--Bridget Aschenberg, 40 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Nationality

American

Gender

Female

Birth Details

September 13, 1931

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Famous Works

• Writings;PLAYS
• Funnyhouse of a Negro (one-act), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York City, 1962, published by Samuel French, 1969.
• The Owl Answers (one-act), White Barn Theatre, Westport, CT, 1963, then Public Theatre, New York City, 1969, anthologized in Kuntu Drama, edited by Paul C. Harris, Grove, 1974.
• A Rat's Mass, Theatre Company, Boston, MA, 1966, then La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, New York City, 1969, anthologized in New Black Playwrights, edited by William Couch, Jr., Louisiana State University Press, 1968.
• A Beast's Story (one-act), produced in 1966, then at Public Theatre, 1969, anthologized in Kuntu Drama, edited by Paul C. Harris, Grove, 1974.
• (With John Lennon and Victor Spinetti) The Lennon Play: In His Own Write(adapted from Lennon's books In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works), National Theatre, London, 1967, then Arena Summer Theatre, Albany, NY, 1969, published by Simon & Schuster, 1969.
• Sun: A Poem for Malcolm X Inspired by His Murder, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1968, then La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, 1970, anthologized in Spontaneous Combustion, edited by Rochelle Owens, Winter House, 1972.
• Cities in Bezique (contains The Owl Answers and A Beast Story), New YorkShakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1969, published by Samuel French, 1969.
• Boats, Forum, Los Angeles, 1969.
• An Evening with Dead Essex, American Place Theatre Workshop, New York City, 1973, then Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1973-74.
• A Movie Star Has to Star in Black and White, Public Theatre Workshop, 1976, anthologized in Wordplay 3, Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1984.
• A Lancashire Lad (for children), Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center, Albany, 1980.
• Black Children's Day, Brown University, Providence, RI, 1980.
• Solo Voyages (contains excerpts from The Owl Answers, A Rat's Mass, and AMovie Star Has to Star in Black and White), Interart Center, New York City,1985, then New Playwrights Theatre, John F. Kennedy Center for the PerformingArts, Washington, DC, 1985.
• Author of A Lesson in a Dead Language, produced in 1964, anthologized inCollision Courses, edited by Edward Parone, Random House, 1968; and Ohio State Murders, Winterfest 11, 1990-91. Other plays include She Talks to Beethoven, The Film Club, and The Dramatic Circle.
• Writings;OTHER
• People Who Led to My Plays (memoir), Knopf, 1987.
• In One Act, University of Minnesota Press, 1988.
• Deadly Triplets: A Theatre Mystery and Journal, University of Minnesota Press, 1990.
• The Alexander Plays (contains She Talks to Beethoven, The Ohio State Murders, The Film Club, and The Dramatic Circle), University of Minnesota Press,1992.
• Work represented in anthologies, including New American Plays, edited byWilliam M. Hoffman, Hill & Wang, 1968. Contributor to periodicals.

Further Reference

BOOKS

• Abramson, Doris E., Negro Playwrights in the American Theatre, 1925- 1959, Columbia University Press, 1969.
• Betsko, Kathleen and Rachel Koenig, Interviews with Contemporary Women Playwrights, Beech Tree Books, 1987.
• Cohn, Ruby, New American Dramatists: 1960-1980, Grove, 1982.
• Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 38: Afro-American Writers after1955; Dramatists and Prose Writers, Gale, 1985.
• Harrison, Paul Carter, The Drama of Nommo, Grove, 1972.
• Hatch, James V., and Ted Shine, editors, Black Theatre U.S.A., Free Press, 1974.
• Kelly, Katherine E., editor, Theatre Journal 43, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991.
• Oliver, Clinton, and Stephanie Sills, Contemporary Black Drama, Scribner, 1971.
• Schlueter, June, editor, Modern American Drama: The Female Canon, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990, p. 172.

PERIODICALS

• American Literature, September, 1991, p. 507.
• City Arts Monthly, February, 1982.
• Drama Review, December, 1977.
• MELUS, fall, 1985, p. 99.
• Modern Drama, December, 1984, p. 520.
• Ms., June, 1987.
• New York Times, January 15, 1964; June 20, 1968; July 9, 1968; January 13, 1969; January 19, 1969; November 1, 1969; February 22, 1972; May 21, 1980;February 15, 1981; September 11, 1985; September 20, 1985.
• Observer Review, June 23, 1968.
• Studies in American Drama, 1945-Present, Volume IV, number 4, 1989, p. 143; Volume VI, number 1, 1991, p. 3.
• Theatre Journal, March, 1991, p. 125.
• Theatre Southwest, April, 1989, p. 8.
• Variety, January 29, 1969; March 16, 1992.