Brent has a Ph.D. in American Culture, specializing in .lm studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in the history of American cinema. In the following essay, Brent discusses the use of innovative dramatic style in Baraka's play.

Over thirty years after its initial production and publication, Baraka's one-act play Slave Ship: A Historical Pageant continues to strike the reader with its variety of experimental stylistic and technical elements as a dramatic work. Experimental dramatic technique in this play includes a rich texture of overlapping sounds, as well as smells (a highly unusual element of dramatic productions), and audience participation. As Slave Ship is neither plot-driven nor character-oriented, nor dialogue-centered, much of the written play consists of stage directions; the stylistic elements of Baraka's written stage directions are extremely expressive and sound, at times, like poetry. In addition, Baraka...