About the Play:

The Amen Corner was one of Royal National Theatre of Britain's top 100 plays of the 20th century.

The Amen Corner has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues, Female/Male Scenes, and Male/Male Scenes.

The Amen Corner is a full-length comedic drama by James Baldwin. The female pastor of a Harlem church must deal with a rebellious congregation, a son who has lost his faith, and the return of her long-estranged husband who is ready to die. The Amen Corner is a scalding, uplifting, sorrowful and exultant masterpiece of the modern American theater. Especially recommended for school and contest use.

The Amen Corner is about faith and family, about the gulf between black men and black women and black fathers and black sons. Self-anointed Harlem store front preacher Margaret Alexander is the leader of her flock and about to see her world crumble. Son David her church organist, is set on following in the footsteps of his father, jazz musician Luke. When the errant husband and father comes home to die, Sister Margaret finds herself losing everything but coming to terms with her own true sense of faith. The Amen Corner grapples with issues of racism, poverty, and the role of the church in the lives of Black Americans.

The Amen Corner was first produced in 1954 on the campus of Howard University. It had a long and successful run in Los Angeles in 1964, before opening on at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway in 1965 and won the Foreign Drama Critics Circle Award. Revived in 2013 at the Royal National Theatre in London. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been performed in regional repertory, middle school, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 10 female, 4 male

What people say:

"The characters are honestly observed, and the lines have wings and humor." — The New York Daily News

"Truth, vividness and rich humanity." — The New York Post

About the Playwright:

James Arthur Baldwin (1924-1987) was an African-American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist and civil rights activist. Eloquent and passionate on the subject of race in America, he is best known for his novels and essays. The two plays on which his reputation as a dramatist was based are The Amen Corner and Blues for Mister Charlie.