I Ain't Yo Uncle

By Robert Alexander

This play takes Harriet Beecher Stowe's abolitionist novel and spins it on its ear. Old stereotypes get to meet their creator, as Uncle Tom, Topsy and Eliza put Harriet Beecher Stowe on trial for not only perpetuating negative stereotypes but also for failing to "get their story right." In this play these same stereotypes reinvent themselves, while the story gets updated from their own Afrocentric perspective in such a way that it not only retains the story's original power, but also draws sharp parallels on matters of race between yesterday and today. If Uncle Tom's Cabin was the novel that helped start the Civil War, I Ain't Yo' Uncle reminds us that the war for equality in America still continues.

About Playwright(s)

Self-identity

Country of publication

Cast Information

Cultural background of characters

Total number of characters

Minimum number of actors

Female roles

Male roles

Transgender roles

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Non-Binary Gender Non-Conforming roles

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Gender unespecified roles

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Actor-Friendly Parts

Monologue level

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Production and Publication

First produced

1990, San Francisco Mime Troupe, San Francisco

Publication year

1996

Published by

Dramatic Publishing

ISBN

9780871296474

Included in: Colour Contradictions, An anthology of Contemporary African-Americna plays. Ed. Harry J. Elam, Jr. & Robert Alexander

Included in: Colour Contradictions, An anthology of Contemporary African-Americna plays. Ed. Harry J. Elam, Jr. & Robert Alexander

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