SOURCE: A review of "Slave Ship," in The Nation, New York, Vol. 210, No. 4, February 2, 1970, p. 125.

Clurman finds "Slave Ship " a masterpiece of living theater.

From what I had read about ["Slave Ship"] after its first performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music I expected it "to scare me to death." Nothing of the sort happened. I was fascinated by the play—full of raucous sound but very few words—as a theatrical phenomenon.

It begins with a picture of the sufferings inflicted on Africans being shipped in the filthy holds of boats to be sold as slaves in America. It proceeds to equally horrendous scenes in the slave markets of the South. It then turns to the consequences of Nat Turner's rebellion. Following this we witness the false place of religious prayer meetings among the blacks and their later determination to rise against oppression.

None of this is...