In Dahomey (1902)

1
In Dahomey (1902)

• Paul Lawrence Dunbar (lyrics)
• Jesse A. Shipp (book)
• Will Marion Cook (music)
• Part I of II

2
The History of the Minstrel Show

• 1769- Lewis Hallman performs is blackface in the
  play The Padlock
• 1769-1843- Performers of so-called Negro
  Music increasingly use blackface in their
  performances and are dubbed minstrels
• 1843- The Virginia Minstrels perform at the New
  York Bowery Ampitheatre
• 1843- E.P. Christy founds the Christy Minstrels,
  who establish the template for minstrel show for
  the next three decades
• 1843-1865- The rise of minstrelsy coincides with
  the growing abolitionist movement in the U.S.,
  and is often used as propaganda to promote the
  image of the contented slave
• 1860s- Blackface begins to serve as a sort of
  fools mask, allowing the performers to lampoon
  virtually anything without offending the
  audience.
• 1860s- The minstrel show increasingly becomes
  associated with social criticism during the Civil
  War, advocating for abolition, womens rights,
  and temperance. Black performers begin to use
  blackface
• 1890s- Vaudeville gradually replaces minstrelsy
  as Americas favorite genre of theatrical comedy

3
The Structure of the Minstrel Show
PART 1- The entire troupe danced onto stage
singing a popular song. Upon the instruction of
the interlocutor, a sort of host, they sat in a
semicircle. Various stock characters always took
the same positions the genteel interlocutor in
the middle, flanked by Tambo and Bones, who
served as the endmen or cornermen. The
interlocutor acted as a master of ceremonies and
as a dignified, if pompous, straight man while
the endmen exchanged jokes and performed a
variety of humorous songs. Over time, the first
act came to include maudlin numbers not always in
dialect. One minstrel, usually a tenor, came to
specialize in this part such singers often
became celebrities, especially with women.
Initially, an upbeat plantation song and dance
ended the act later it was more common for the
first act to end with a walkaround, including
dances in the style of a cakewalk PART 2- The
olio- had of a variety show structure.
Performers danced, played instruments, did
acrobatics, and demonstrated other amusing
talents. Troupes offered parodies of
European-style entertainments, and European
troupes themselves sometimes performed. PART
3/FINALE- Uusually one actor, typically one of
the endmen , delivered a faux-black-dialect stump
speech, a long oration about anything from
nonsense to science, society, or politics, during
which the dim-witted character tried to speak
eloquently, only to deliver countless
malapropisms, jokes, and unintentional puns. All
the while, the speaker moved about like a clown,
standing on his head and almost always falling
off his stump at some point. With blackface
makeup serving as fools mask, these stump
speakers could deliver biting social criticism
without offending the audience, although the
focus was usually on sending up unpopular issues
and making fun of blacks' ability to make sense
of them.
4
Stump Speech
5
Endmen Comedy Routine
6
Endmen Dancing
7
Cakewalk
8
Musical Number
9
In Dahomey?

• The origins of Dahomey (present day Benin) can be
  traced back to a group of Aja from the coastal
  kingdom of Allada who moved northward and settled
  among the Fon People of the interior. By about
  1650, the Aja managed to dominate the Fon, and
  Wegbaja declared himself king of their joint
  territory. Based in his capital of Agbome,
  Wegbaja and his successors succeeded in
  establishing a highly centralized state with a
  deep-rooted kingship cult of sacrificial
  offerings. These included an emphasis on human
  sacrifices in large numbers, to the ancestors of
  the monarch
• Economically, however, Wegbaja and his successors
  profited mainly from the slave trade and
  relations with slavers along the coast. As
  Dahomey's kings embarked on wars to expand their
  territory, they began using rifles and other
  firearms traded with French and Spanish slave
  traders for young men captured in battle, who
  fetched a very high price from the European slave
  merchants.
• Talking Points
• Given its history, describe the multiple ironies
  at work (and their significances) in making
  Dahomey the Societys chosen point of return? To
  what types of ignorance and affiliation does it
  point? How does it help us make sense of the
  fate the eventually befalls the colonizers?

10
Hybridity and In DahomeyReworking
Theatrical Conventions by Manipulating
Theatrical Contracts

• Minstrelsy
• Vaudeville
• Popular Art
• Folklore
• Musical Comedy/ Light Opera
• African-American Christianity
• Farce designed to Lampoon Repatriation as a
  solution to the Race Problem

11
Key Themes, Theatrical Devices, and Symbols

• Minstrelsy/Black Face
• Atavistic Primitivism
• Cultural Production as Cultural Fabric
• Early Pan-Africanism The Agendas of Origin
• Black Nationalism and Internationalism
• Racial Hybridity and Difference
• The (in)compatability of European Forms and
  African-American Expression
• Using Theatre to Redress Issues and Concerns
  that, in part, are the creation of the theatre of
  times past (turning to minstrelsy to help solve
  the race problem)
• Meta-theatricality
• The idea that the origin of African-American
  identity lies in the cultural production of the
  Southern plantation
• Afro-Christianity

12
Moses and Carrie BrownThe Absence of African
American Theatre and the Indispensable Cultural
Fabric of African American CultureA Problem
with No Home-Grown Solution?

• MOSES (loudly) Mad about the stage was Carrie
  Brown, She served at a draper's shop in town
  Each new piece they play'd, There you'd find this
  maid First night in the gall'ry sitting down.
  Carrie could recite, "The Soldier's Dream" All
  the shopgirls held her in esteem, For in the
  dining hall She would entertain them all, And,
  when applauded, she would almost scream
• CHORUS  I wants to be a actor lady Playing, you
  know, Star in the show Spotlight for me no back
  row shady I'm the real thing I dance and sing
  Miss Terry may make Shakespeare go, But she can't
  sing, "Flo from Pimlico," And I wants to be a
  actor lady too -- indeed I do! Carrie said that
  Shakespeare was an ass, Barrie wasn't bad, but
  still no class "If George Sims," said she,
  "Wrote a play for me, You to see me act could get
  no pass." "Over my dead body first, you cur!
  Death to life with you, I much prefer!"
  "Farewell, Claude, we must part! You have broke
  my trusting heart!" With lines like them I'd make
  all London stir.
• CHORUS  I wants to be a actor lady Playing you
  know, Star in the show Spotlight for me, no back
  row shady, I'm the real thing, I dance and sing
  Miss Mary Moore is splendid truly, But she can't
  warble "Mister Dooley" I wants to be a actor
  lady too -- indeed I do! Carrie wrote to Mister
  Beerbohm Tree "Though to you I may a stranger
  be, When your season starts, Of the ladies' parts
  Give the most important one to me Olga
  Nethersole is very fine, But her acting can't
  compare with mine I'm just about her height
  Herbert, don't forget to write, And say a five
  years' contract I may sign!"

• Talking Points
• 1) Describe the paradox faced
• by Carrie Brown? What does she
• want? Why cant she have it?
• What is her proposed remedy?
• 2) How does the Chorus frame matters with respect
  to
• the relationship between African-American
  performance
• and African American aesthetic production? In
  other words,
• how would you characterize the symbolic
  importance of Carries
• Boast the Terry may make Shakespeare go. But
  she cant s
• Sing, Flo from Pimlico
• 3) What is the intertextual significance wrought
  by the fact that
• Moses leading this chorus?

13
Williams and WalkerA More Sophisticated Black
Theatre?

• George Walker and Egbert Austin Williams were a
  vaudeville comedy team and had one of the most
  renowned and successful stage partnerships in
  American theatrical history. They decided to team
  up when they met in San Francisco in the early
  1890's. Williams and Walker pioneered a new kind
  of "Black" humor and eventually developed their
  own company. With musical shows such as
  "Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk," "Sons of
  Ham," and "In Dahomey," they opened the door for
  other African-American actors, singers, dancers,
  and musicians, and sought to redefine the
  boundaries of Black Theater.

14
Inset Williams and Walker Clip
15
Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906)

• The first African-American poet to garner
  national critical acclaim.
• Dunbar penned a large body of dialect poems,
  standard English poems, essays, novels and short
  stories before he died at the age of 33.
• His work often addressed the difficulties
  encountered by members of his race and the
  efforts of African-Americans to achieve equality
  in America. He was praised both by the prominent
  literary critics of his time and his literary
  contemporaries.
• 4) Dunbar decided to publish a book of poems.
  Oak and Ivy, his first collection, was published
  in 1892.
• 5) In 1893, he was invited to recite at the
  World's Fair, where he met Frederick Douglass,
  the renowned abolitionist who rose from slavery
  to political and literary prominence in America.
  Douglass called Dunbar "the most promising young
  colored man in America."
• Dunbar's second book, Majors and Minors propelled
  him to national fame.
• In 1897, Dunbar traveled to England to recite his
  works on the London literary circuit.
• In 1902, Dunbar and his wife separated.
• He ultimately produced 12 books of poetry, four
  books of short stories, a play and five novels.
  His work appeared in Harper's Weekly, the Sunday
  Evening Post, the Denver Post, Current Literature
  and a number of other magazines and journals.
• ) Dunbars burden of representativity is
  well-documented to have, at times, nearly drove
  him mad.

16
Will Marion Cook (1869-1944)

• 1) The first great African-American composer for
  the musical stage.
• 2) Trained at the Oberlin Conservatory, the
  National Conservatory of Music in New York under
  Anton Dvorak and in Berlin, Germany at Hochschule
  fur Musik.
• 3) IN 1890, he begins to compose that drew on the
  idioms and themes of African-American folklore
  and music.
• 4) Throughout the 1890s and 1900s, he composed
  for the stage shows of Bert Williams, the leading
  black comic and vaudevillian. I
• 5) In 1889 Cook produced and wrote the music for
  Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk. This debut
  in the theater world was a series of skits. The
  skits were written in an hour-long session
  between Cook and the celebrated African American
  dialect poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. It was the
  first musical comedy written, directed, and
  performed entirely by African-American artists.
  The show opened at the Casino Theater Roof Garden
  in New York to rave reviews and enjoyed success
  on Broadway and in London. The beauty of the lead
  dancer Ada Overton Walker prompted the cakewalk
  dance craze among even the high-society of New
  York.
• 6) Named Composer-in-Chief and Musical Director
  for William Walker's Broadway shows. He went on
  to compose the music for a number of popular
  black musicals, including In Dahomey (1903)
• 7) Cook composed Abyssinia in 1906, but his
  reliance on ragtime left him behind the changing
  tastes. He led his Southern Syncopated Orchestra,
  a huge ragtime and concert ensemble, and composed
  "I'm Coming, Virginia" and "Mammy" in the 1910s.
• 8) His last European tour by his orchestra was in
  1919. It was then that critics noted that he had
  developed an emerging jazz style

17
Jesse Shipp Writer, Director, Lyricist

• ON BROADWAY
• Productions Dates of Production
• Kilpatrick's Old-Time Minstrels  Original,
  Musical, Minstrel
• Staged by Jesse A. Shipp
• Apr 19, 1930 - Apr 26, 1930
• The Green Pastures  Original, Play, Play with
  music
• Performer Jesse A. Shipp Abraham Performer
  Jesse A. Shipp Archangel
• Feb 26, 1930 - Aug 29, 1931
• Mr. Lode of Koal  Original, Musical
• Book by Jesse A. Shipp Lyrics by Jesse A. Shipp
• Nov 1, 1909 - Dec 4, 1909
• Bandanna Land  Original, Musical, Comedy
• Starring Jesse A. Shipp Mose Blackstone
  Staged by Jesse A. Shipp Book by Jesse A.
  Shipp Lyrics by Jesse A. Shipp
• Feb 3, 1908 - Apr 18, 1908
• Abyssinia  Original, Musical, Comedy
• Performer Jesse A. Shipp The Affa Negus
  Tegulet Staged by Jesse A. Shipp Dahomey
   Original, Musical, Farce
• Performer Jesse A. Shipp Hustling Charley
  Book by Jesse A. Shipp
• Feb 18, 1903 - Apr 4, 1903
• Sons of Ham  Revival, Musical, Comedy

18
The Theatrical Dilemmas of Representing the Race
Problem for a New Black TheatrePart I, II,
IIIGO!

• The problem of origin, the absence of precedent,
  and the drive (and/or refusal) to infuse a
  hostile theatrical environment with elements of
  Black folk/popular Culture.
• 2) How does one infuse authentic
  African-American culture into a cultural milieu
  where both African-Americans and Africa have
  already been invented in different terms to
  suit different aims?
• 3) The problem of reworking contaminated genres
  and meta-narratives to suit new aims while, at
  the same time, fore-fronting the dangers of this
  contamination. (Or How does one show both
  sides of the story without ignoring
  cross-pollination.)

19
Hybridity and In DahomeyReworking
Theatrical Conventions by Manipulating
Theatrical Contracts

• Minstrelsy
• Vaudeville
• Popular Art
• Folklore
• Musical Comedy/ Light Opera
• African-American Christianity
• Farce designed to Lampoon Repatriation as a
  solution to the Race Problem

20
Minstrelsy, Tricksterism, and the Race
ProblemThe Race Problem and the Problem of
Representing Race

• Act 1
• (Public Square with a house doorway. Above the
  door is a sign "Intelligence Office." A crowd is
  assembled around a medicine show pitchman.
  Applause at rise of curtain. A banjo player acts
  as an interlocutor as Tambo, and Bones tell one
  or two jokes. The banjoist sings a song. Dr.
  Straight, the pitchman, addresses the crowd.)
• ...
• DR. STRAIGHT  Wait, wait, wait, this is not all.
  I have another preparation, Oblicuticus, "Obli"
  -- in this case, being an abbreviation of the
  word "obliterate." "Cuti" -- taken from the word
  "cuticle," the outer skin, and "cuss" is what
  everybody does when the desired results are not
  obtained, but there is no such word as "fail."
  This wonderful face bleach removes the outer skin
  and leaves in its place a peachlike complexion
  that can't be duplicated -- even by peaches.
  Changing black to white and vice versa. I am
  going to spend only one day in your city, but I
  am going to convince you by exhibiting a living
  evidence of my assertions that these two grand
  preparations Straightaline and Oblicuticus are
  the most wonderful discovery of modern times.

• Talking Points
• What are the implications refashioning (and in a
  sense, returning to his roots) the figure of the
  interlocutor as the M.C. at a medicine show?
• What is Dr. Straights cure for the race problem?
  How do the very names of his potions speak to
  the nature of his solution to the race problem?
• Consider the implications and ironies of the use
  of Blackface in this scene. (Black Actors in
  Blackface calling for the obliteration of all
  things black). What purposes do they serve?

21
American Colonization SocietyEmigration,
Repatriation, or Colonization?

• In 1822, the American Colonization Society
  (A.C.S.) which was the primary vehicle for
  returning black Americans to greater freedom in
  Africa, established Liberia as a place to send
  people who were formerly enslaved. This movement
  of black people by the A.C.S. had broad support
  nationwide among white people in America,
  including prominent leaders such as Henry Clay
  and James Monroe, who saw this as preferable to
  emancipation in America, with Clay believing
  "unconquerable prejudice resulting from their
  color, they never could amalgamate with the free
  whites of this country".

• Talking Points
• 1) What is beyond the
• comprehension of Stampfield?.
• How do his lack of
• understanding (or concerns)
• speak to the plays political
• concerns and treatments?
• 2) What are the ironies and
• metaphorical import of Moses
• remark about Indians and
• reservations? How
• does it complicate his earlier
• Rejection of the U.S.? How
• Does it distance him from the
• Natives and what is the impact
• Of this distancing?
• 3) What seems to be the
• chief motivation behind the
• societys efforts? How is this

STAMPFIELD  You shouldn't let trifles annoy you.
I'll dare say you'll find the population of
Dahomey quite as much a source of annoyance as
the colored population of this country. Your
exalted opinion of the ideal life to be found in
a barbarous country is beyond my comprehension.
MOSES  It's all right for you, son, to argue
that way, 'cause you 'specs to live and die
amongst these white folks here in the United
States, but the colonization society that leaves
this country for Dahomey takes a different view
of the matter. In the first place, we've
'vestigated the country and found out just what's
what. STAMPFIELD  In other words, the existing
conditions. MOSES  (doubtfully) Yes. Everything
points to success. They tell me that gold and
silver in Dahomey is plentiful, as the whiskey is
on election day in Bosting Boston. The
climate's fine -- just the right thing for
raisin' chickens and watermelons. It never snows
so you don't need no clothes (pauses) sich as the
people wear here, and who know but what you can
get a few franchises from the king to start
street cars, 'lectric lights and saloons to
running. STAMPFIELD  You've fine, big ideas, but
suppose the natives suddenly don't take kindly to
the new order of things and refuse to be electric
lighted, salooned and otherwise fixed up with
blessings of civilization. Suppose they look upon
you as intruders and instead of receiving you
with open arms (pause) make war on you. MOSES 
(slowly) If it comes to that, we'll arrange with
dem gentlemen like Uncle Sam did with the
Indians. STAMPFIELD  How is that? MOSES  Kick
the stuffin' out of dem and put them on a
reservation.
22
Reverse Passage?

• HUSTLING CHARLEY Well, there's a society down in
  Florida that's been pilin' up coin for years. Now
  that they're flush, they're goin' to go blow.
  They ain't satisfied to see their noodles ain't
  swelled on account of their dough, but they
  figure this country's a dead one. Some bloke
  tipped off Dahomey as the original Klondike and
  they're goin' against the brace, hook, line, and
  sinker. I'm goin' to steer the gang down to
  Gatorville where the main Gazaboo of the whole
  push hangs out. Say, fellows, I get two dollars a
  head from the captain of the dugout that snatches
  'em away from this burg, and I've got a  contract
  with a medicine shark, in all cases of sea
  sickness, we split the purse fifty-fifty. If
  anybody pegs out on the trip, I've got an
  undertaker waitin' at the wharf that gives me 35
  percent of the net. Am I asleep at the switch,
  ask me?

• Talking Points
• What traditional figure does Hustling Charlie
  evoke?
• Given this association, how is Shipp deploying
  African American folklore to lampoon the
  Colonization movement?
• What else do you think Shipp and Dunbar are
  trying to suggest about community (and
  nationalism) with the figure of Hustling Charley?
• How does history, in a theatrical venue (granted)
  repeat itself in Hustling Charleys con?

23
VaudevilleThe Heart of American Show Business

1. Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety
   entertainment in the United States and Canada
   from the early 1880s until the early 1930s.
2. Each performance was made up of a series of
   separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a
   common bill.
3. Types of acts included popular and classical
   musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals,
   magicians, female and male impersonators,
   acrobats, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from
   plays, minstrels and movies .
4. Although its origins may lie in Voix de Ville, it
   is a distinctly American form of polite,
   bourgeoisie entertainment.

24
Pop CultureIn Dahomey as Meta-Theatre
RAREBACK  You're just as much a detective as
you're ever going to be. I can see now that
you'll never be a Nick Carter or an Old Sleuth.
SHYLOCK  You always castin' up reflections. I
never heard of dis man Nick Carter or old Hoof
either. RAREBACK  Never heard of Nick Carter
and Old Sleuth? Why, Shy, they're the greatest
detectives in the world. Nick Carter is the only
man living that's been shot through the heart
forty-one times, and Old Sleuth's been knocked in
the head with his arms tied behind him and a gag
in his mouth and throwed in every sewer in the
country.

• Talking Points
• Why do Dunbar and Shipp choose to infuse a
  literary tradition tied to mass culture into an
  authentic African-American Play?
• What does this infusion ask of the audience? And
  what are the implications and resonances of this
  suggestion?
• How does the fact that these to Black
  black-facedminstrel/trickster characters take
  fictional white detectives as role models impact
  your take on Shylock and Rareback?
• Names and Vaudeville

25
FolkloreHarris, Uncle Remus, Mars Johnand Old
Black Joeto preserve in permanent shape those
curious mementoes of a period that will no doubt
be sadly misrepresented by historians of the
future."
Joel Chandler Harris


Ol Black Joe (1845-1908)

• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ----
• Emancipation Day
• (Repeat chorus) Many long years ago there was
  poor Old Black Joe Use to walk just like this
  for a prize. There was big Jasper Brown, the cake
  walker clown, Walk'd like this with his best gal
  Miss Lize. Old Tildy Snow, and Bill Jones, with
  his rheumatic bones, To see them walk was fun.
  With that old-style prance, they have no chance
  When this late-style cake walk is done.

Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864)
26
The Question of a Common OriginSetting and
SettlingTheres No Place Like Home--Boston,
Gatorville, Dahomey

• Act 2, Scene 1
• (Exterior of LIGHTFOOT home, garden of the summer
  house. Chorus sings "For Florida.") For Florida
  our home so bright. Our voices ring with true
  delight. From verdant vale to arid stand, She is
  for 'ere a summer land. Her tree, her rocks, her
  streamlets clear, To all our loyal hearts are
  dear. So let us sing it loud and long, For
  Florida, a song, a song. We are the children of
  the sun. Upon our brows His work is done. Tho'
  rude and black our faces be, Our hearts are
  brave, our hands are free. And as we sing, so
  shall we strive, As long as loyalty's alive. Our
  hearts, our arms, our souls, hurrah, For Florida!
  For Florida!
• (Enter from the house, CICERO LIGHTFOOT in shirt
  sleeves and apron, spoon in hand)
• CICERO  Dat song expresses my sentiments to the
  letter. After all, there ain't no place like
  Florida.
• MOSES  'Ceptin' Dahomey, but outside of Dahomey
  and Boston, I endorse your statements.
• CICERO  I don't know nothin' about no other
  place 'cept Florida. It might be the worse place
  in the world, but whether it's worst or best,
  it's home, and, Mose (cautiously), if Dahomey
  pulls up shy, I'm comin' back here.

• TALKING POINTS
• Puzzle out the symbolic importance of all three
  sites (Boston, Gatorville, and Dahomey) with
  respect to the plays figuration of homeland.
  For whom or for whatdo these places constitute
  homes?
• To what multiple displacements does Moses and
  Ciceros conversation speak and what is the
  metaphorical resonance of these displacements in
  this context?
• What are some the multiple symbolic resonances of
  the characters names, an how do these names
  position the characters vis-à-vis the concept of
  nation and government. What multiple ironies
  are, again, at work?
• Cicero as contented darkie?

27
Cats Eye ShellsTrans-Atlantic Hoodoo

• RAREBACK  It won't do any good for you and I to
  squabble over what can't be helped. I'm in just
  as bad a fix as you are, and I believe all our
  bad luck came through the silver box I got hold
  of just about three hours before we struck the
  wharf.
• SHYLOCK  I don't know nothin' about our bad
  luck, but I do know all about my bad luck, when
  the man came on board the boat with that rusty
  lookin' coat on and wanted to sell that silver
  box, I was the fust man that reached out my hand
  to get it, but jist as soon as I seen dat a cat
  was scratched on the back, I turned round three
  times, walked backwards four steps, throwed a
  hand full of salt over my left shoulder, and I
  give him back that box so quick, if I was
  superstitious, I'd a swore I seen that cat's
  whiskers move.
• ....
• RAREBACK  Instead of being bad luck, a cat turns
  out to be the best friend we ever had . After
  this you ought to hug and kiss every cat you run
  across.
• SHYLOCK  I've got to admit if it wasn't for that
  cat's picture, you couldn't tell that box from no
  other silver box therefore, I'm bound to respect
  cats but no fust-class detective ain't goin'
  round huggin' and kissin' cats, no matter how
  much he respects them.
• In America, cat's eye shells are commonly found
  in African-American mojo bags prepared for
  protection from evil, for uncrossing, and to
  break a jinx. This probably derives from their
  use in European folk-magic and is not the remnant
  of a central African custom, since the evil eye
  belief itself -- and thus the use of eye-charms
  to repel the evil eye-- is Middle-Eastern in
  origin and spread from there to India and to
  Europe. Cultural appropriation being what it is,
  however, cat's eye shells are a regular component
  of voodoo practice and have been for at least a
  couple of centuries.

• Talking Points
• The reversal of luck
• Given what you know of cats eye shells (and
  their different valences in African and
  African-American folklore) and the fact that the
  box belongs to Cicero, what do the multiple
  ironies at work in this passage suggest about
  African-American origins?
• What role, if any, does The American Dream (as
  accumulation) play in Rareback and Shylocks
  assessments of whats lucky and what is not?

28
On Broadway in Dahomey vs. In Dahomey on Broadway

• RAREBACK 
• (laughing) Stick to me and after we're in Dahomey
  six months if you like it, I'll buy it for you.
  I'll tell the King over there that I'm a
  surveyor, and you're a contractor. If he asks for
  a recommendation, I'll tell him to go over to New
  York City and take a look at Broadway -- it's the
  best job the firm ever did, and if he don't mind,
  we'll build him a Broadway in the jungle.
• (song)
• If we went to Dahomey, suppose the King would say
  We want a Broadway built for us, we want it right
  away. We'd git a bunch of natives, say ten
  thousand or more Wid banyan trees, build a big
  department store. We'd sell big Georgia possums,
  some water melons, too. To get the coin for other
  things we'd like to do. If we couldn't have real
  horse cars, we'd use zebras for awhile On the
  face of the Broadway clock, use a crockodial.
• CHORUS  On Broadway in Dahomey bye and bye We'll
  build a Bamboo Railway to the sky. You'll see on
  the sides of the rocks and hills, On Broadway in
  Dahomey bye and bye. We'd git some large Gorillas
  and use them for police, then git a Hippopotamus
  for Justice of the Peace. We'd build a nice roof
  garden somewhere along the line, Serve Giraffe
  Highballs and real Cokenut wine. We'd use Montana
  Diamonds to make Electric light, And then have
  Wagner sung by parrots ev'ry night. We'd have a
  savage festival, serve Rhine-os-erus stew, Have
  pork chops and U-need-a Biscuit too.

29
The Scriptures
30
The Ham NationParodying Emigration, Atavistic
Primitivism, Biblical Justifications for
Slavery, and Early Iterations of Pan-Africanism

• CICERO  Now dat I've got this gold, I'm goin' to
  have my pedigree wrote. There's a gentleman down
  in Cheaterville dat can find the Royal ancestors
  for anybody dat got fifty dollars to spare for
  his trouble. In fact, he said there was a time
  when every darkey was a king.
• (song) Evah Darkey Is a King Dar's mighty curious
  circumstance Dat's a botherin' all de nation. All
  de yankees is dissatisfied Wid a deir untitled
  station. Dey is huntin' after title Wid a golden
  net to snare 'em! But dey ain't got all de title
  For it is a 'culiar ting. When a dahkey stahts to
  huntin' He is sho' to prove a king.
• CHORUS  Evah darkey is a king! Royalty is jes' de
  ting. If yo' social life's a bungle, Jes you go
  back to yo' jungle, And remember dat your daddy
  was a king. Scriptures say dat Ham was de first
  black man. Ham's de father of our nation. All de
  black folks to dis very day B'longs right in de
  Ham creation. Ham, he was a king in ancient days,
  An' he reigned in all his glory. So ef we is all
  de Sons of Ham, Natcherlly dat tells de story.
  White folks what's got dahkey servants Try an'
  get dem every thing. You must nevah speak
  insulting. You may be talking to a king.

31
Emancipation DayCakewalks, Continuity, Jubilee,
Origins, and American Promises

• CHORUS  On Emancipation Day, All you white fo'ks
  clear de way. Brass ban' playin' sev'ral tunes,
  Darkies eyes look jes' lo'k moons, Marshall of de
  day a struttin', Lord but he is gay. Coons
  dress'd up lak masqueraders, Porters arm'd lak
  rude invaders . When dey hear dem ragtime tunes,
  White fo'ks try to pass fo' coons on Emancipation
  Day. Heah um cry, My oh my, When de'cession shows
  it head. Majors brown Ridin' down on cart hosses
  deck'd in red. Teeth lak pearls, Greet the girls
  standin' dere lak dusky storms. Oh! my pet, What
  a set of owdacious uniforms. Generals stiff as
  hick'ry sticks In de dress of seventy-six .
• (Repeat chorus)
• That's How the Cake Walk's Done Cake-walking
  craze, it's a fad nowadays With black folks and
  white folks too, And  I really declare it's done
  ev'rywhere, Though it may be something new to
  you. 'Twas introduced years ago down in Dixie you
  know, By Black folks in Tennessee. So just to
  show you, I'm going to do A cake walk of a high
  degree.
• CHORUS  Bow to the right, bow to the left, Then
  you proudly take your place. Be sure to have a
  smile on your face, Step high with lots of style
  and grace. With a salty prance do a ragtime
  dance, Step way back and get your gun. With a
  bow, look wise, make goo-goo eyes, For that's
  the  way the cake walk's done. My Grandmother
  told me that she used to be The best cake walker
  in the state, When she walk'd down the line,
  lord, chile she did shine. But of course her
  style is out of date The Parisians, you know,
  they all walk just so, They call it ze cake walk
  dance. But with me you'll agree, That the folks
  from Paree In this cake walk would have no
  chance.

32
Reluctant Prophets First Class Jonah Men
My hard luck started when I was born, leas' so
the old folks say. Dat same hard luck been my
bes' fren' up to dis very day. When I was young
my mamma's frens to find a name they tried. They
named me after Papa and the same day Papa died.
For I'm a Jonah, I'm an unlucky man. My family
for many years would look on me and then shed
tears, Why am I dis Jonah I sho' can't
understand, But I'm a good substantial
full-fledged real first-class Jonah man . A fren'
of mine gave me a six-month meal ticket one day.
He said, "It wont do me no good, I've got to go
away." I thanked him as my heart wid joy and
gratitude did bound. But when I reach'd the
restaurant the place had just burn'd down. For
I'm a Jonah, I'm a unlucky man. It sounds just
like that old, old tale, But sometimes I feel
like a whale. Why am I dis Jonah I sho' can't
understand, But I'm a good substantial
full-fledged real first-class Jonah man.
33
On Broadway in Dahomey

• RAREBACK  (laughing) Stick to me and after we're
  in Dahomey six months if you like it, I'll buy it
  for you. I'll tell the King over there that I'm a
  surveyor, and you're a contractor. If he asks for
  a recommendation, I'll tell him to go over to New
  York City and take a look at Broadway -- it's the
  best job the firm ever did, and if he don't mind,
  we'll build him a Broadway  in the jungle.
• (song)
• If we went to Dahomey, suppose the King
  would say We want a Broadway built for us, we
  want it right away. We'd git a bunch of natives,
  say ten thousand or more Wid banyan trees, build
  a big department store. We'd sell big Georgia
  possums, some water melons, too To get the coin
  for other things we'd like to do. If we couldn't
  have real horse cars, we'd use zebras for awhile
  On the face of the Broadway clock, use a
  crocko-dial.
• CHORUS  On Broadway in Dahomey bye and bye We'll
  build a Bamboo Railway to the sky. You'll see on
  the sides of the rocks and hills, On Broadway in
  Dahomey bye and bye. We'd git some large Gorillas
  and use them for police, then git a Hippopotamus
  for Justice of the Peace. We'd build a nice roof
  garden somewhere along the line, Serve Giraffe
  Highballs and real Cokenut wine. We'd use Montana
  Diamonds to make Electric light, And then have
  Wagner sung by parrots ev'ry night. We'd have a
  savage festival, serve Rhine-os-erus stew, Have
  pork chops and U-need-a Biscuit too.

34
Playing-Out Good and Bad SolutionsThe Third Act
35
Act 3 My Lady FrogParodying Sophomoric
Solutions

• Act 3
• My Lady Frog
• (sung by chorus) Where the water-lilies cluster
  'Neath drooping willows When the moon so soft
  and tender Peeps through the trees Where the
  vines of brilliant lustre, Find mossy pillows
  Where the ferns so tall and slender Sway with the
  breeze, There lived a lady frog, green pollywog
  was she Her lover tho' was one of brown.
  Throughout the whole night long a little song
  sang he, And whispered for the moon was looking
  down.
• (sung by male frog) My lady frog of opal hue,
  Here on this log, I sing to you. Bright as the
  flies That light this bog, So are your eyes, My
  lady frog.
• (sung by chorus) As the lovers sat a-waiting,
  From o'er the way Came a frog with chest a
  swelling, A bull frog green. Told he of a palace
  waiting, In grand array, How the lady of his
  dwelling, Would be a queen. And tho' 'tis sad to
  say, he took away this maid. The frog of brown
  now croaks with pain, And when the night is
  still, from o'er the hill, 'tis said You hear in
  mournful tones the old refrain.
• Talking Points
• 1)

36
Act 3 My Dahomian QueenParodying Sophomoric
Solutions

• (Repeat male solo)
• (Exit Chorus and lights out. Change to Garden of
  the King of Dahomey)
• My Dahomian Queen In Dahomey so grand, Just along
  side the strand, Lives a Moorish maid so near and
  dear to me. When I sought her heart and hand, She
  made me understand That if I wish'd my little
  bride she'd be. When the moon is brightly
  beamin', From the azure skies a streamin', In my
  cottage I'm a dreamin', A dreamin' of our weddin'
  day. Natives of exalted station, Potentates from
  ev'ry nation. Will be there to hear me when I say
  --
• CHORUS  My Dahomian queen, My dusky turtle dove,
  What a beautiful scene, Me and my lady love.
  She's so sweet and serene, Fresh from the jungle
  green, Royal Dahomian queen, My Dahomian queen.
  When I become a king, All the jingle bells will
  ring, While through the streets on palanquins
  we're borne. 'Twill be the grandest thing, Just
  to hear the natives sing, As loyally they fall
  before my throne. Caboceers will be our sentry,
  'Rabian knights will be our gentry, The wonder of
  the twentieth century. A-makin' even sunlight
  fade. Seems the breezes will be sighin' Nature
  with itself be a-vieing A-singin' while my babe
  and I parade --
• (Repeat chorus)
• Caboceers Entrance We are the loyal subjects of
  King Eat-Em-All, The ruler over all our states
  both great and small. Great is his name, more
  great his fame, Before his Majesty all nations
  prostrate fall. Forward with chargers dashing,
  Their armor brightly flashing, With bayonets a
  clashing Like demons they hunt the fray. The
  Caboceers! We greet with cheers! The Caboceers,
  long be their years! The Caboceers! We greet with
  cheers! The Caboceers, long be their years!
  Mighty their reign and glorious, Their power all
  victorious, Like gods of light before us They
  come, the world to sway, to sway, to sway.

37
Embracing a Dark(ie) PastCicero Reclaiming
the Shameful Instead of the Imaginary

• (Chorus enters as African chiefs, soldiers,
  natives, dancing girls. After march, chorus comes
  to front of stage, kneels and sings choral
  descriptive of glories of Cannibal King and
  Caboceers. At the middle of the choral, they rise
  at the words "Mighty ruler of our nation" and
  sway to and fro with swinging palm leaves. At the
  end, the chorus falls prostrate to the floor on
  their faces to greet SHYLOCK HOMESTEAD  and
  RAREBACK PUNKERTON dressed as Caboceers. Song
  "Every Darkey Is a King." Dialogue follows in
  which the box with cat's eye is found . CICERO
  LIGHTFOOT is disgusted with Dahomey and announces
  his return to America. The musical concludes with
  two rousing numbers "Emancipation Day," and a
  triumphant cake-walk -- most popular dance of the
  era -- a production number that lasted  twenty
  minutes.)
• Talking Points
• 1)

38
American Colonization SocietyEmigration,
Repatriation, or Colonization?

• In 1822, the American Colonization Society
  (A.C.S.) which was the primary vehicle for
  returning black Americans to greater freedom in
  Africa, established Liberia as a place to send
  people who were formerly enslaved. This movement
  of black people by the A.C.S. had broad support
  nationwide among white people in America,
  including prominent leaders such as Henry Clay
  and James Monroe, who saw this as preferable to
  emancipation in America, with Clay believing
  "unconquerable prejudice resulting from their
  color, they never could amalgamate with the free
  whites of this country".

• Talking Points
• 1) What is beyond the
• comprehension of Stampfield?.
• How do his lack of
• understanding (or concerns)
• speak to the plays political
• concerns and treatments?
• 2) What are the ironies and
• metaphorical import of Moses
• remark about Indians and
• reservations? How
• does it complicate his earlier
• Rejection of the U.S.? How
• Does it distance him from the
• Natives and what is the impact
• Of this distancing?
• 3) What seems to be the
• chief motivation behind the
• societys efforts? How is this

STAMPFIELD  You shouldn't let trifles annoy you.
I'll dare say you'll find the population of
Dahomey quite as much a source of annoyance as
the colored population of this country. Your
exalted opinion of the ideal life to be found in
a barbarous country is beyond my comprehension.
MOSES  It's all right for you, son, to argue
that way, 'cause you 'specs to live and die
amongst these white folks here in the United
States, but the colonization society that leaves
this country for Dahomey takes a different view
of the matter. In the first place, we've
'vestigated the country and found out just what's
what. STAMPFIELD  In other words, the existing
conditions. MOSES  (doubtfully) Yes. Everything
points to success. They tell me that gold and
silver in Dahomey is plentiful, as the whiskey is
on election day in Bosting Boston. The
climate's fine -- just the right thing for
raisin' chickens and watermelons. It never snows
so you don't need no clothes (pauses) sich as the
people wear here, and who know but what you can
get a few franchises from the king to start
street cars, 'lectric lights and saloons to
running. STAMPFIELD  You've fine, big ideas, but
suppose the natives suddenly don't take kindly to
the new order of things and refuse to be electric
lighted, salooned and otherwise fixed up with
blessings of civilization. Suppose they look upon
you as intruders and instead of receiving you
with open arms (pause) make war on you. MOSES 
(slowly) If it comes to that, we'll arrange with
dem gentlemen like Uncle Sam did with the
Indians. STAMPFIELD  How is that? MOSES  Kick
the stuffin' out of dem and put them on a
reservation.
39
Reverse Passage?

• HUSTLING CHARLEY Well, there's a society down in
  Florida that's been pilin' up coin for years. Now
  that they're flush, they're goin' to go blow.
  They ain't satisfied to see their noodles ain't
  swelled on account of their dough, but they
  figure this country's a dead one. Some bloke
  tipped off Dahomey as the original Klondike and
  they're goin' against the brace, hook, line, and
  sinker. I'm goin' to steer the gang down to
  Gatorville where the main Gazaboo of the whole
  push hangs out. Say, fellows, I get two dollars a
  head from the captain of the dugout that snatches
  'em away from this burg, and I've got a  contract
  with a medicine shark, in all cases of sea
  sickness, we split the purse fifty-fifty. If
  anybody pegs out on the trip, I've got an
  undertaker waitin' at the wharf that gives me 35
  percent of the net. Am I asleep at the switch,
  ask me?

• Talking Points
• What traditional figure does Hustling Charlie
  evoke?
• Given this association, how is Shipp deploying
  African American folklore to lampoon the
  Colonization movement?
• What else do you think Shipp and Dunbar are
  trying to suggest about community (and
  nationalism) with the figure of Hustling Charley?
• How does history, in a theatrical venue (granted)
  repeat itself in Hustling Charleys con?

40
VaudevilleThe Heart of American Show Business

1. Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety
   entertainment in the United States and Canada
   from the early 1880s until the early 1930s.
2. Each performance was made up of a series of
   separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a
   common bill.
3. Types of acts included popular and classical
   musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals,
   magicians, female and male impersonators,
   acrobats, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from
   plays, minstrels and movies .
4. Although its origins may lie in Voix de Ville, it
   is a distinctly American form of polite,
   bourgeoisie entertainment.

41
Pop CultureIn Dahomey as Meta-Theatre
RAREBACK  You're just as much a detective as
you're ever going to be. I can see now that
you'll never be a Nick Carter or an Old Sleuth.
SHYLOCK  You always castin' up reflections. I
never heard of dis man Nick Carter or old Hoof
either. RAREBACK  Never heard of Nick Carter
and Old Sleuth? Why, Shy, they're the greatest
detectives in the world. Nick Carter is the only
man living that's been shot through the heart
forty-one times, and Old Sleuth's been knocked in
the head with his arms tied behind him and a gag
in his mouth and throwed in every sewer in the
country.

• Talking Points
• Why do Dunbar and Shipp choose to infuse a
  literary tradition tied to mass culture into an
  authentic African-American Play?
• What does this infusion ask of the audience? And
  what are the implications and resonances of this
  suggestion?
• How does the fact that these to Black
  black-facedminstrel/trickster characters take
  fictional white detectives as role models impact
  your take on Shylock and Rareback?
• Names and Vaudeville

42
FolkloreHarris, Uncle Remus, Mars Johnand Old
Black Joeto preserve in permanent shape those
curious mementoes of a period that will no doubt
be sadly misrepresented by historians of the
future."
Joel Chandler Harris


Ol Black Joe (1845-1908)

• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ----
• Emancipation Day
• (Repeat chorus) Many long years ago there was
  poor Old Black Joe Use to walk just like this
  for a prize. There was big Jasper Brown, the cake
  walker clown, Walk'd like this with his best gal
  Miss Lize. Old Tildy Snow, and Bill Jones, with
  his rheumatic bones, To see them walk was fun.
  With that old-style prance, they have no chance
  When this late-style cake walk is done.

Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864)
43
The Question of a Common OriginSetting and
SettlingTheres No Place Like Home--Boston,
Gatorville, Dahomey

• Act 2, Scene 1
• (Exterior of LIGHTFOOT home, garden of the summer
  house. Chorus sings "For Florida.") For Florida
  our home so bright. Our voices ring with true
  delight. From verdant vale to arid stand, She is
  for 'ere a summer land. Her tree, her rocks, her
  streamlets clear, To all our loyal hearts are
  dear. So let us sing it loud and long, For
  Florida, a song, a song. We are the children of
  the sun. Upon our brows His work is done. Tho'
  rude and black our faces be, Our hearts are
  brave, our hands are free. And as we sing, so
  shall we strive, As long as loyalty's alive. Our
  hearts, our arms, our souls, hurrah, For Florida!
  For Florida!
• (Enter from the house, CICERO LIGHTFOOT in shirt
  sleeves and apron, spoon in hand)
• CICERO  Dat song expresses my sentiments to the
  letter. After all, there ain't no place like
  Florida.
• MOSES  'Ceptin' Dahomey, but outside of Dahomey
  and Boston, I endorse your statements.
• CICERO  I don't know nothin' about no other
  place 'cept Florida. It might be the worse place
  in the world, but whether it's worst or best,
  it's home, and, Mose (cautiously), if Dahomey
  pulls up shy, I'm comin' back here.

• TALKING POINTS
• Puzzle out the symbolic importance of all three
  sites (Boston, Gatorville, and Dahomey) with
  respect to the plays figuration of homeland.
  For whom or for whatdo these places constitute
  homes?
• To what multiple displacements does Moses and
  Ciceros conversation speak and what is the
  metaphorical resonance of these displacements in
  this context?
• What are some the multiple symbolic resonances of
  the characters names, an how do these names
  position the characters vis-à-vis the concept of
  nation and government. What multiple ironies
  are, again, at work?
• Cicero as contented darkie?

44
Cats Eye ShellsTrans-Atlantic Hoodoo

• RAREBACK  It won't do any good for you and I to
  squabble over what can't be helped. I'm in just
  as bad a fix as you are, and I believe all our
  bad luck came through the silver box I got hold
  of just about three hours before we struck the
  wharf.
• SHYLOCK  I don't know nothin' about our bad
  luck, but I do know all about my bad luck, when
  the man came on board the boat with that rusty
  lookin' coat on and wanted to sell that silver
  box, I was the fust man that reached out my hand
  to get it, but jist as soon as I seen dat a cat
  was scratched on the back, I turned round three
  times, walked backwards four steps, throwed a
  hand full of salt over my left shoulder, and I
  give him back that box so quick, if I was
  superstitious, I'd a swore I seen that cat's
  whiskers move.
• ....
• RAREBACK  Instead of being bad luck, a cat turns
  out to be the best friend we ever had . After
  this you ought to hug and kiss every cat you run
  across.
• SHYLOCK  I've got to admit if it wasn't for that
  cat's picture, you couldn't tell that box from no
  other silver box therefore, I'm bound to respect
  cats but no fust-class detective ain't goin'
  round huggin' and kissin' cats, no matter how
  much he respects them.
• In America, cat's eye shells are commonly found
  in African-American mojo bags prepared for
  protection from evil, for uncrossing, and to
  break a jinx. This probably derives from their
  use in European folk-magic and is not the remnant
  of a central African custom, since the evil eye
  belief itself -- and thus the use of eye-charms
  to repel the evil eye-- is Middle-Eastern in
  origin and spread from there to India and to
  Europe. Cultural appropriation being what it is,
  however, cat's eye shells are a regular component
  of voodoo practice and have been for at least a
  couple of centuries.

• Talking Points
• The reversal of luck the tension between our and
  my
• Given what you know of cats eye shells (and
  their different valences in African and
  African-American folklore) and the fact that the
  box belongs to Cicero, what do the multiple
  ironies at work in this passage suggest about
  African-American origins?
• What role, if any, does The American Dream (as
  accumulation) play in Rareback and Shylocks
  assessments of whats lucky and what is not?

45
On Broadway in Dahomey vs. In Dahomey on Broadway

• RAREBACK  (laughing) Stick to me and after we're
  in Dahomey six months if you like it, I'll buy it
  for you. I'll tell the King over there that I'm a
  surveyor, and you're a contractor. If he asks for
  a recommendation, I'll tell him to go over to New
  York City and take a look at Broadway -- it's the
  best job the firm ever did, and if he don't mind,
  we'll build him a Broadway  in the jungle.
• (song)
• If we went to Dahomey, suppose the King
  would say We want a Broadway built for us, we
  want it right away. We'd git a bunch of natives,
  say ten thousand or more Wid banyan trees, build
  a big department store. We'd sell big Georgia
  possums, some water melons, too To get the coin
  for other things we'd like to do. If we couldn't
  have real horse cars, we'd use zebras for awhile
  On the face of the Broadway clock, use a
  crocko-dial.
• CHORUS  On Broadway in Dahomey bye and bye We'll
  build a Bamboo Railway to the sky. You'll see on
  the sides of the rocks and hills, On Broadway in
  Dahomey bye and bye. We'd git some large Gorillas
  and use them for police, then git a Hippopotamus
  for Justice of the Peace. We'd build a nice roof
  garden somewhere along the line, Serve Giraffe
  Highballs and real Cokenut wine. We'd use Montana
  Diamonds to make Electric light, And then have
  Wagner sung by parrots ev'ry night. We'd have a
  savage festival, serve Rhine-os-erus stew, Have
  pork chops and U-need-a Biscuit too.
• Talking Points
• Given what the play has already revealed to us
  (via that cat shells) distinct differences
  (reversals, really) between Africans and
  African-Americans, describe the different
  resonances and significance of the two phrases in
  the slides title.
• To what multiple effects is Dunbar using dialect
  in this song?
• Describe the multiple misconceptions and
  ambitions of Rarerback (and the Chorus) with
  respect to Dahomey.

46
Playing-Out Good and Bad Solutions to the Race
ProblemThe Third Act
47
Act 3 My Lady FrogParodying Sophomoric
Solutions

• Act 3
• My Lady Frog
• (sung by chorus) Where the water-lilies cluster
  'Neath drooping willows When the moon so soft
  and tender Peeps through the trees Where the
  vines of brilliant lustre, Find mossy pillows
  Where the ferns so tall and slender Sway with the
  breeze, There lived a lady frog, green pollywog
  was she Her lover tho' was one of brown.
  Throughout the whole night long a little song
  sang he, And whispered for the moon was looking
  down.
• (sung by male frog) My lady frog of opal hue,
  Here on this log, I sing to you. Bright as the
  flies That light this bog, So are your eyes, My
  lady frog.
• (sung by chorus) As the lovers sat a-waiting,
  From o'er the way Came a frog with chest a
  swelling, A bull frog green. Told he of a palace
  waiting, In grand array, How the lady of his
  dwelling, Would be a queen. And tho' 'tis sad to
  say, he took away this maid. The frog of brown
  now croaks with pain, And when the night is
  still, from o'er the hill, 'tis said You hear in
  mournful tones the old refrain.
• Talking Points-
• What is the allegory being drawn here? Speculate
  as to the audience reaction with respect to the
  beginning of the third act (a duet between
  frogs). Given that a minstrel shows olio
  would, most likely, begin with a long romantic
  song of lost love (sung my a woman) meant to
  evoke pathos, what type of parody is occurring
  here? What does the gender inversion, if
  anything,signify? What are the multiple reasons
  and resonances of the reasons that has led to the
  frogs lost love, and how do they, when
  considered in light of Mosess efforts, make a
  satiric commentary on the Colonization movement
  (or the idea of repatriation)?
• Remember that these actors would be playing
  frogs in blackface. What commentary does the
  play make on the stage with respect to
  race-relations (and race-relations on as as, in
  part, manufactured by the stage) make by have
  actors in black face perform the parts of Blacks
  as well as of the parts of these frogs?
• Speculate as to the multiple reasons why the
  third act (our entrance to Dahomey) would begin
  with a ludicrous tale of lost love song by what
  amount to, more or less, fairy-tale frogs?

48
Act 3 My Dahomian QueenParodying Sophomoric
Solutions

• (Repeat male solo)
• (Exit Chorus and lights out. Change to Garden of
  the King of Dahomey)
• My Dahomian Queen In Dahomey so grand, Just along
  side the strand, Lives a Moorish maid so near and
  dear to me. When I sought her heart and hand, She
  made me understand That if I wish'd my little
  bride she'd be. When the moon is brightly
  beamin', From the azure skies a streamin', In my
  cottage I'm a dreamin', A dreamin' of our weddin'
  day. Natives of exalted station, Potentates from
  ev'ry nation. Will be there to hear me when I say
  --
• CHORUS  My Dahomian queen, My dusky turtle dove,
  What a beautiful scene, Me and my lady love.
  She's so sweet and serene, Fresh from the jungle
  green, Royal Dahomian queen, My Dahomian queen.
  When I become a king, All the jingle bells will
  ring, While through the streets on palanquins
  we're borne. 'Twill be the grandest thing, Just
  to hear the natives sing, As loyally they fall
  before my throne. Caboceers will be our sentry,
  'Rabian knights will be our gentry, The wonder of
  the twentieth century. A-makin' even sunlight
  fade. Seems the breezes will be sighin' Nature
  with itself be a-vieing A-singin' while my babe
  and I parade --
• (Repeat chorus)
• Caboceers Entrance We are the loyal subjects of
  King Eat-Em-All, The ruler over all our states
  both great and small. Great is his name, more
  great his fame, Before his Majesty all nations
  prostrate fall. Forward with chargers dashing,
  Their armor brightly flashing, With bayonets a
  clashing Like demons they hunt the fray. The
  Caboceers! We greet with cheers! The Caboceers,
  long be their years! The Caboceers! We greet with
  cheers! The Caboceers, long be their years!
  Mighty their reign and glorious, Their power all
  victorious, Like gods of light before us They
  come, the world to sway, to sway, to sway.
• Talking Points
• What are the multiple ironies involved when
  Dunbar chooses to have the Chorus sing about My
  Dahomian Queen? How does the very phrasing of
  this appellation (as we all as the use of the
  term natives) implicitly critique these
  settlers, and how does their ultimate desire (to
  possess a Dahomenian queen) both critique
  movements like the ACS and speak to the projects
  of black nationalism and internationalism?
• We have our first depiction of the natives here.
  How would you characterize it? Is it realistic?
  If not, what does the appearance of
  King-Eat-Em-All,
• What are the multiple ironies invoked by the
  presence of the Caboceers and their likening to
  gods by the settlers?

49
African-American Christianity andthe Scriptures
in In Dahomey
50
The Ham NationParodying Emigration, Atavistic
Primitivism, Biblical Justifications for
Slavery, and Early Iterations of Pan-Africanism

• CICERO  Now dat I've got this gold, I'm goin' to
  have my pedigree wrote. There's a gentleman down
  in Cheaterville dat can find the Royal ancestors
  for anybody dat got fifty dollars to spare for
  his trouble. In fact, he said there was a time
  when every darkey was a king.
• (song) Evah Darkey Is a King Dar's mighty curious
  circumstance Dat's a botherin' all de nation. All
  de yankees is dissatisfied Wid a deir untitled
  station. Dey is huntin' after title Wid a golden
  net to snare 'em! But dey ain't got all de title
  For it is a 'culiar ting. When a dahkey stahts to
  huntin' He is sho' to prove a king.
• CHORUS  Evah darkey is a king! Royalty is jes' de
  ting. If yo' social life's a bungle, Jes you go
  back to yo' jungle, And remember dat your daddy
  was a king. Scriptures say dat Ham was de first
  black man. Ham's de father of our nation. All de
  black folks to dis very day B'longs right in de
  Ham creation. Ham, he was a king in ancient days,
  An' he reigned in all his glory. So ef we is all
  de Sons of Ham, Natcherlly dat tells de story.
  White folks what's got dahkey servants Try an'
  get dem every thing. You must nevah speak
  insulting. You may be talking to a king.
• Talking Points
• By the plays end, we know that both Moses and
  Cicero have both been tricked, but, in this
  scene, we learn that they were tricked in
  different ways. Describe the differences (and
  the multiple resonance of these differences)
  between the rationales (or forces) motivating
  Cicero and Moses to return to Africa? How do
  these differences speak to the notions of
  atavistic primitivism, U.S. imperialism, Black
  nationalism, and the potential for an
  international Colored collective?
• Describe the multiple ironies at work in the
  phrase there was a time when every darkey was a
  king (especially when considered in light of the
  ge