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Harlem Duet
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Harlem Duet (1997) (edit title/settings)

by Djanet Sears (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

A rhapsodic blues tragedy. Harlem Duet could be the prelude to Shakepeare’s Othello , and recounts the tale of Othello and his first wife Billie (yes, before Desdemona). Set in contemporary Harlem at the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X boulevards, the play explores the space... read more

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Othello: A man of 40, present day.
  • He: Othello, in the time period of 1928.
  • Him: Othello, in the time period of 1860.
  • Billie: A woman of 37, present day.
  • She: Billie, in the time period of 1928.
  • Her: Billie, in the time period of 1860.
  • Canada: Billie's father, 67
  • Amah: Billie's sister-in-law, 33
  • Magi: The landlady, 41
  • Mona: White, 30's (an off-stage voice)
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Is she White?(silence.)Othello?(silence.)She's White.(Silence.)Othello...”
    She
  • “(Off-stage) She'll have to get used to me sometime.”
    Mona
  • “Liberation has no colour.”
    Othello
  • “I don't want a Mona Lisa smile...”
    Billie
  • “You young'uns don't know the sweetness of molasses... Rather have that granulated sugar, 'stead of a deep clover honey, or cane sugar juice from way into the Demerara. Better watch out for that refined shit. It'll kill ya. A slow kinda killin'. 'Cause it kills your mind first. So you think you living the life, when you been dead a long time.”
    Canada
  • “I hate. I know I hate. And he loves. How he loves.”
    Billie
  • “I wanna be free.”
    Billie
  • “If I don't forgive my enemy, if I don't forgive him, he might just set up house, inside me.”
    Amah

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Late summer
  • Harlem: Present day. An apartment in a renovated brownstone, at the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X boulevards (125th & Lennox).
  • Harlem: 1928, a tiny dressing room.
  • Harlem: 1860, on the steps to a blacksmith's forge.

First Sentence edit see section history

She: We keep doing this don't we?

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Race: This whole play revolves around the Colour Conflict between Blacks and Whites.Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are streets that intersect and it's at these crossroads that Billie and Othello debate the presence and power of the Colour Conflict over their lives and the people around them.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Djanet Sears (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Scirocco Drama (an imprint of J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc.)
Country: Canada
Publication Date: 1997
ISBN: 1-896239-27-7
Page Count: 117

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

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