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Krigwa and Eulalie

If I were to look at the KRIGWA Players Little Negro Theatre and their successes Eulalie Spence’s name should come up …and it does. But that’s only if you know about the Krigwa Players Little Negro Theatre in the first place. Because not much has been said about either. Ms. Spence was the most prolific of all the playwrights that showcased their works as a member of  the Krigwa ( originally an acronym, spelled CRIGWA , for Crisis Guild of Writers and Artists, a product of the Crisis Magazine). And yet unless you are doing scholarly research you would never know the Krigwa or Eulalie.

She wrote fourteen or more plays to which five were published, a great feat for any playwright especially a Negro playwright. Especially for a Negro woman playwright. 

The Krigwa Players Little Negro Theater was a showcase organization. Created by W.E.B. DuBois, as an dramatic extension of his magazine the Crisis, with great intentions. His belief was, Negroes should have a place to showcase works by us, for us and near us. The Krigwa’s home was in the basement little theater of the Harlem Branch Library on135th Street and Lenox Avenue. 

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