New York Public Library has acquired materials from Black playwright, George C. Wolfe

Since the mid 1970s, Wolfe has explored Black American stories through theater and cinema productions that have earned resounding praise.

A vast archive of works produced over the near-50-year career of legendary playwright George C. Wolfe has been acquired by the New York Public Library for an undisclosed amount.

Dozens of boxes full of scripts, photographs, director’s notes, communications with prominent playwrights and other records of Wolfe’s lasting impact on American theater will be available to browse next year at the library’s archive for performing arts, the Billy Rose Theatre Division.

“It’s telling the stories of the shows that I worked on,” Wolfe told the New York Times, speaking about the archive, “but embedded in that, it’s telling the story of those times.”

The library announced in a statement Thursday that the acquisition “continues the Library’s mission to preserve documents of important figures who have advanced theater through the 21st century.”

Since the mid 1970s, Wolfe has explored Black American stories through theater and cinema productions that have earned resounding praise, including 11 Tony Award nominations for his 1991 musical “Jelly’s Last Jam” about legendary jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton, per the library.

For over a decade from 1993 to 2004, Wolfe led the storied Public Theater in Manhattan as its producer and is credited as a revolutionary figure in its history due to his vision of inclusivity and accessibility, according to the New York Times.

He is considered a groundbreaking figure in American theater at large due to his work on landmark Broadway productions including “Angels in America” and “Topdog/Underdog” as well as “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” hailed as some of the most important works “of the 20th century,” per the library.

Wolfe also directed films including the 2017 film “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and the 2020 drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” both of which were met with critical acclaim.

In December 2020, Wolfe told GQ about why he thinks the story “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” set in 1927 about blues legend Ma Rainey and originally written by August Wilson, still resonates today.

“I think America is still haunted by its past and healing comes, not from pretending the past wasn’t there, but from going inside of the past and exploring it and coming out on the other side with strength and power and knowledge and, hopefully, grace,” Wolfe said.

In total, Wolfe has been nominated for a Tony Award 23 times, winning five. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2013.

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