Mentor(s): Katie Johnson

Written in 1920, The Emperor Jones is a modernist, experimental play about an African American man, Brutus Jones, who is a former Pullman porter that went to jail after killing a man in the United States. Upon his escape, he tricks an uncolonized tribe on an island in the West Indies into believing he is a powerful immortal who should be their leader. When Jones learns that the natives have revolted, he disappears into the forest to make his escape. There, he is tormented by visions, including grublike monsters, a Black man he killed back in the United States, a chain gang of Black convicts, a slave auction, and a Congo witch doctor accompanied by a crocodile. Finally, the natives find him and kill him with a silver bullet, which he had claimed was the only thing that could strike him down.

Explore Project