The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom

by William Wells Brown, John Ernest (Editor)

A well-known nineteenth-century abolitionist and former slave, William Wells Brown was a prolific writer and lecturer who captivated audiences with readings of his drama The Escape; or, a Leap for Freedom (1858). The first published play by an African American writer, The Escape explored the complexities of American culture at a time when tensions between North and South were about to explode into the Civil War. This new volume presents the first-edition text of Brown’s play and features an extensive introduction that establishes the work’s continuing significance.

The Escape centers on the attempted sexual violation of a slave and involves many characters of mixed race, through which Brown commented on such themes as moral decay, white racism, and black self-determination. Rich in action and faithful in dialect, it raises issues relating not only to race but also to gender by including concepts of black and white masculinity and the culture of southern white and enslaved women. It portrays a world in which slavery provided a convenient means of distinguishing between the white North and the white South, allowing northerners to express moral sentiments without recognizing or addressing the racial prejudice pervasive among whites in both regions.

John Ernest’s introductory essay balances the play's historical and literary contexts, including information on Brown and his career, as well as on slavery, abolitionism, and sectional politics. It also discusses the legends and realities of the Underground Railroad, examines the role of antebellum performance art—including blackface minstrelsy and stage versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin—in the construction of race and national identity, and provides an introduction to theories of identity as performance.

A century and a half after its initial appearance, The Escape remains essential reading for students of African American literature. Ernest's keen analysis of this classic play will enrich readers’ appreciation of both the drama itself and the era in which it appeared.

The John Ernest is an associate professor of English at the University of New Hampshire and author of Resistance and Reformation in Nineteenth-Century African-American Brown, Wilson, Jacobs, Delany, Douglass, and Harper.

Genres: Plays, School, Theatre, Read For School, Classics

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

William Wells Brown was a prominent African-American abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North in 1834, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer. His novel Clotel (1853) is considered the first novel written by an African American; it was published in London, where he was living at the time. Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel writing, fiction, and drama. He has a school named after him in Lexington, Kentucky and was among the first writers inducted to the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

Lecturing in England when the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law was passed in the US, which required people in the North to aid in the capture of fugitive slaves, Brown stayed for several years to avoid the risk of capture and re-enslavement. After his freedom was purchased by a British couple in 1854, he and his family returned to the US, where he rejoined the abolitionist lecture circuit. A contemporary of Frederick Douglass, Wells Brown was overshadowed by the charismatic orator and the two feuded publicly.

Reviews

[Madelein]

This is one of those plays/books where I feel like I can't rate it. Not because it's perfect or anything, but because I feel that the historical significance outweighs my opinions on its entertainment value.

This is the first play to ever be written by an African-American and it was not even produced until 1971. The playwright also never intended it to be performed anyways, but readings of the piece occurred at abolitionist rallies.

I read this for my African American theatre class and I believe everyone should read it if they are into theatre and theatre history. There is a lot more to African American theatre than blackface and minstrelsy.

[Seamaiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good play. It is a melodrama for sure. I didn't like Cato. I didn't feel as if he was a comic character. I guess he is, but his behaviour made me dislike him. He didn't make me laugh. I liked Glen and Melinda. I am interested in the genre of African-Americans' slavery, so I didn't mind reading the play. It actually made me feel sad.

[Elizabeth Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a project in my theater history class about this play, and the history behind it is so fascinating, which I think makes the play more interesting. It’s a great piece of theater, originally written for the playwright’s (an escaped slave) amusement, then taken around lecture halls as dramatic readings for the abolitionist movement, and was only fully produced for the first time in the 1970s. The playwright writes a preface explaining how he never intended for this play to be seen or performed but his friends told him it was good. And he was quick to say that if anyone had something to say about the accuracy of his play, that it was based very strictly on the lives of actual people, and that he was an escaped slave himself.

The play IS really good. It’s cleverly crafted and does well to get the reality of slavery and abolitionist message across. Most of the scenes read as a loosely connected story in vignettes, but make no mistake, it still is its own complete story, just not as clearly so as many other plays. Sometimes it does read as being obviously written for only the writer’s enjoyment, but it’s still a great piece and incredibly important in American, Black, and theater history.
(PG rating)

[Autumn Lytle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a pdf version of this drama, so I didn’t really have a choice but to guess on the version of it. I thought it was a really good and interesting story. We read this for a class I’m in and while I was made to read it, I still enjoyed it. I found it entertaining and even ironic at times. It makes a great commentary on slavery and it’s awesome that some of the characters at the end get to escape. The three stars are not for its political purpose and stance, but purely just how much I enjoyed reading it.

[Octavia]

It’s driving me crazy that there’s a clip escaping me (or leaping for freedom from my brain, some might say) but it’s of a black comedian doing a bit that’s like “do you know we’re making fun of you?” That’s kinda what this play boils down to. You can’t get to Fairview w/o brown.

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this many times. It's a classic of African American theatre, and I find new things in it every time. It's a delight.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read it for class. Not exactly sure how easy it would be to stage, but it was an intriguing piece!

[Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plays with convention quite cleverly. A real hoot.

[Lenni Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way the characters in this play twisted, abused, and misused Biblical scripture and religion was vile. My disgust is beyond words. Mrs. Gaines was especially horrific on this front. The Bible doesn’t condone slavery, and if you don’t believe me, we can talk about that.

Overall I liked the play - it kept me on the edge of my seat (especially that last page!!). Considering that most of my recent experience with plays were 18th century tragedies, I was more than a little scared to get to the end, but it was good. There were a few scenes that were seemingly unimportant, but at the end the author made all of it fit together.

It seemed to me that there was too much exposition, but as the playwright says, “The play, no doubt, abounds in defects, but as I was born in slavery, and never had a day’s schooling in my life, I owe the public no apology for errors.”

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play was difficult for me to read because of the dialectic spellings throughout, but I enjoyed reading it. It is short and simple and still manages to provide several perspectives on the subject of slavery.

My takeaway: All people have the right to freedom - the kind and obnoxious alike. There is more to this story, but I was annoyed immensely by a particular slave character, so that was my focus personally.

[Ted Keen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING: This historic work from 1858 contains repulsive language about African-American slaves and jarring descriptions of abuse.

This is one of the oldest dramas written by a black person that still survives today. I read abolitionist William Wells Brown’s play as an artifact of history, but came away surprised by an adventure story with fascinating characters who are threatened by Shakespearean-level tragedy. It was a pleasure to root for Glen and Melinda’s journey toward freedom.

[nevaeh galluccio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a feel-good ending, but it didn’t feel like there was much depth for many of the characters. I wish they got fleshed out more because it just fell a little flat for me. The diction of the language is a really interesting part of this play and it did really help me imagine the performance in my head. I think actors can elevate this script, but it just didn’t feel super compelling. The use of music for the several songs would definitely elevate this play live.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to have the perspective of a rewrite/autobiographical perspective of a post-civil war escaped slave's play about an escape for freedom, this is the book for you. The abolitionist writer, Brown, has a way of making the characters a little more intriguing than Uncle Tom's Cabin's plays, in my opinion.

[Chloë Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

original review (as of first read 03/23/2023):
like a 4.75. this is the first black drama ever written and honestly? its a pretty damn good one. the story tracks through, its characteristic of its time with a whole load of characters, it tracks real experiences and it has the heart of a black voice rooting for the black people in the story. i think that it certainly lacked in places but the author himself is aware of that and even noted that he has had no formal education, came from slavery to writing this, which is a feat to be honored. the dr/mrs characters really frustrated me and the resolution came super quick in a way that was difficult for me because i would love to see how things played out after the dramatic ending. but something about knowing they got to freedom at the very least is such a gift. for the temporal contexts within which it was written, very very good. solid 4.75


updated review (as of second read 04/08/2024):
this is a fine play. it is a more than fine play when placed in the contextualization of the mid 19th century and under the authorship and WITH THE PARTICULAR FORWARD NOTE that it was never meant for the stage. but i mean you can tell right? in the form, i mean. it becomes obvious, concrete that the text was meant for the enjoyment of his friends. so we get this semi critique semi racist conceptualization of world that he admits IS ALL FOR SHITS AND GIGS but is flawed. because its full of cato the (excuse my flippancy) coon literally rACOON, melinda and glen the fuck yall we married, dr gaines the rapist, mrs gaines the rep of white feminism, and a host of other enslaved folks whose lives never really get to pan out. and its individualistic as hell. and i get it right like please don't excuse me of not getting it because that's not the case. i get the form, i get the function, i get the literary tropes contextualized within the period, i UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT. i am just now....more critical of it. and while its full of abundant gifts to the field to the form of black drama it is flawedddd and maybe even make that capital F flawed. that's okay though. updated rating is 3.5 stars.

[Derek Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theater has the power to elevate voices you otherwise would never hear, and convey truths that would otherwise never be told. Anyone who believes in that power must read this play. That we can read a work of drama written by a 19th century Black author— one who personally experienced the horrors of slavery himself— is a rare, invaluable gift to the medium. All theater curriculums should teach this play.

With that said, the execution is... okay. William Wells Brown is at his best here when he lunges at the cruelty and hypocrisy of slaveholders. You can feel his rightful anger through how the slaveholders speak to and about their slaves. One of the most jarring moments occurs when a slaveholder and a priest talk about serving God and honoring His name through acting righteously. But, as they talk, the slaveholder keeps yelling at Hannah, the house slave, and threatening to whip her for being disruptive. There are other moments, too, that convey the real anguish and desperation Brown must have felt during his experiences.

But he also goes out of his way to convey the hope and courage of the would-be runaway slaves, illustrated notably through Glen and Melinda. Glen even recites a beautiful (albeit long) poem about the trials and rewards of seeking freedom by following the "Star of the North." This is a play that is at once meant to anger and inspire you.

Unfortunately, the structure could be better. We sort of have a main plot line here, but there are so many characters and so many events happening that it was a little hard to keep track of it all. I wish Brown had kept a limited cast and narrowed the plot to something a little more digestible. Then again, maybe it'd be easier to keep track of everything if I were to watch it performed on stage.

Overall, I recommend this play. The author's firsthand experiences elevate the melodrama into something profoundly sincere, even if the execution isn't perfect.