Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the title of a song by Ma Rainey referring to the Black Bottom dance, which has been taken as the name of a 1982 play; one of a ten-play cycle by August Wilson that chronicles 20th Century African American experience. The play is set in Chicago in the 1920s (the only play in the group not set in Pittsburgh) and deals with issues of race, art, religion and the historic exploitation of black recording artists by white producers.

[edit] Plot

In a Chicago based recording studio, Ma Rainey's band players, Cutler (trombone), Toledo (piano), Slow Drag (double-bass) and Levee (trumpet) turn up to record a new album of her songs. As they wait for her to arrive they banter, tell stories, joke, philosophise and argue. As the play unfolds it becomes clear that the tension is between the young hot-headed trumpeter Levee who has dreams of having his own band and veteran players Cutler and Toledo.

By the time Ma Rainey does turn up in full regalia and entourage in tow the recording schedule is badly behind, throwing the white producers Sturdyvant and Irvin into more and more irate disarray. Ma's insistence that her stuttering nephew Sylvester should do the voice intro to the title song causes more havoc. As the band waits for various technical problems to be resolved the conflict between Levee and Cutler reaches boiling point and violence ensues. Finally, when Levee is simultaneously fired from the band by Ma for his insubordination and then rejected by Sturdyvant who had offered to record his songs his anger becomes too much and he stabs Toledo, killing him, thus destroying any possibility of a future for himself.

[edit] Stage History

It was produced on Broadway in 1985 and starred Charles S. Dutton as Levee and Theresa Merritt as Ma. Direction was by Lloyd Richards, one of August Wilson's longest collaborators. It received the 1985 Tony Award nomination for Best Play; Dutton and Merrit were nominated for acting awards.

Charles S. Dutton reprised the role in a critically-panned revival which costarred Whoopi Goldberg as Ma.

It was first performed in the UK at the National Theatre in London in 1991 in a production by Howard Davies starring Clark Peters and Hugh Quarshie as Toledo and Levee. It was enormously well received. Subsequent UK revivals have taken place in Liverpool at the Playhouse (2004, direction: Gemma Bodinetz) and the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre in a production starring Antonio Fargas as Toledo, Ram John Holder as Slow Drag and Johnnie Fiori as Ma (2006, direction: Jacob Murray).