Mulatto; A Tragedy Of The Deep South

     Although Hughes was mostly known for his artistic filled poetry, he also produced many other works of literature. One of his most famous pieces of literature just so happens to be a theatre play called Mulatto. In fact the play has been performed on Broadway almost 375 times. It was produced on Broadway in 1935 by Martin Jones. It was one of the first ever plays to contain conflict between father and son over racial issues.

     The play consisted where a young child grows up on a plantain with his family who are employed on a plantation. The main character's name is Robert Lewis, he was a young African American boy who was sent away at a young age to an all black school. Robert, who is 18 by the time he returns from for for the first time dearly worshipped his father at a young age until he was extremely beaten by his dad for calling him "Papa." The word "Mullatos'' means race mixed children, who live on a plantation but are not actually acknowledged by their families as theirs. His father, Colonel Thomas Norwood is a 60 year old man who's wife passed at a young age. This caused him to be a very bitter and angry man. 

     The plot consisted of a confrontation between Colonel Thomas and his son, Robert. The play continues to where Robert and two other men assasinate his father. The towns people search for Robert due to the fact he killed his father, they planned on lynching him. The play ends with a dramatic event of Robert killing himself in the upstairs of his own home while hiding from the town's mob. 

     Langston Hughes boycotted the opening of the play due to the fact that the producer had changed the plot of the story to something less dramatic. Hughes created the dramatic ending to show the hardships faced by a young black man growing up during this time period.