Yolande Du Bois’s Marriage

Charles Smith’s “Knock Me a Kiss” is a play about the marriage of Harlem Renaissance’s two symbolic figures, the daughter of the scholar W. E. B. Dubois and Harlem’s great poet, Countee Cullen. This part comedy and part tragedy is fictional, but was inspired by true events. W. E. B. DuBois, wanting to raise “social respectability” of African Americans, convinced the famous poet Countee Cullen to marry his daughter, Yolande. But Yolande actually likes Jimmy Lunceford, a jazz bandleader. In the end, she ends up chooses to honor her father’s decision and marries with his best man. Yolande then goes back to Jimmy, but finds that he doesn’t want her anymore.
According to the New York Times review,the play was a great success.  It was funny without turning into a parody nor taking away from the plot.  But like we were discussing today, there are other things that factor into the viewing experience, like the theater.  Unfortunately, neither the Neil Genzlinger, the New York Times reviewer, nor the reader who reviewed the article itself, liked the theater very much.  Genzlinger called the Abrons Art Center dingy, and said that the play deserved a better theater space.  And as the reviewer said, a theater where there are rats and roaches can become quite distracting, so perhaps it is better to wait for another production in a different theater before seeing it.  Or else, take the reviewer’s advice and wear plastic from head to toe.