Adrienne Kennedy

American playwright Adrienne Kennedy has influenced the theater with complex, at times surrealist, work that centers Black women.

Who Is Adrienne Kennedy?

Playwright Adrienne Kennedy first gained attention with Funnyhouse of a Negro, which was produced off-Broadway in 1964. Kennedy’s plays usually do not rely on straightforward narratives, but rather utilize symbolism and dreamlike conditions to convey messages about racism, sexism, colonialism and other destructive forces. They have also incorporated her own personal history and featured Black women as protagonists. In November 2021, it was announced that Kennedy’s 1990 play Ohio State Murders would appear on Broadway, which would be her Broadway debut.

Early Years and Education

Adrienne Kennedy was born as Adrienne Lita Hawkins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 13, 1931, to Cornell Wallace, a social worker, and Etta, a teacher. Kennedy grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. During the summers, she and her brother would visit their parents’ hometown of Montezuma, Georgia. Going to Georgia meant traveling in segregated trains and living in the Jim Crow South. On a few occasions she met her white maternal grandfather, who owned the peach orchard where her then-15-year-old maternal grandmother had worked.

Kennedy studied elementary education at Ohio State University. Attending the school meant being surrounded by white students and experiencing discrimination, but she persevered and received her bachelor’s degree in 1953.

After college, Kennedy got married. She and her husband moved to New York City so he could attend Columbia University. Kennedy studied creative writing at several institutions, including Columbia University.

Kennedy’s Plays

Kennedy’s plays draw on the past, both her own and outside events, while also addressing struggles involving race and sex. Instead of realistic storytelling, Kennedy often turns to metaphor and narrative fragments that can leave audiences reeling. As a playwright, she consistently centers Black women. Much of Kennedy’s oeuvre consists of one-act plays, but she has written longer works.

In 1960, Kennedy’s husband was awarded a grant that enabled the couple to go to Ghana. On the way there, Kennedy visited England, Spain and Morocco. Later, while her husband remained in Africa, Kennedy moved to Italy, where she completed the surreal one-act play Funnyhouse of a Negro. This work launched Kennedy’s career as a playwright.

The main character in Funnyhouse of a Negro is a schizophrenic woman, Sarah. Sarah grapples with her mixed-race heritage and past personal conflicts while encountering characters that include Congolese freedom fighter Patrice Lumumba and Queen Victoria.

Kennedy used Funnyhouse of a Negro as a writing sample to enroll in a workshop with Edward Albee. In 1964, Albee co-produced the debut off-Broadway staging of Funnyhouse of a Negro. Some audience members struggled to follow the fractured narrative, and the production closed after fewer than fifty performances. However, many attendees were impressed with Kennedy’s evocative work. She received an Obie, an award established to recognize off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theater.

Kennedy’s first full-length play was The Lennon Play: In His Own Write (1967), adapted from John Lennon‘s writing. Another lauded full-length play by Kennedy was A Movie Star Has to Star in Black and White, produced by New York’s Public Theatre Workshop in 1976. Stars from Hollywood’s past, such as Bette Davis and Shelley Winters, join a Black woman named Clara in this play.

Per: History