Marcus Gardley

The post-black playwright, Marcus Gardley has been concerned with the concept of African American identity as defined within the nexus of diverse socio-cultural elements. This study explores the role of religion as an integral and indispensable constituent of African American identity in three of Gardley’s plays, namely, And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, The House That Will Not Stand, and A Wolf in Snake Skin Shoes, while considering the relevant cultural and sociological studies on the role of religion in African American communities. Drawing upon the conception of identity in the framework of African American criticism, the focus of this paper is on Gardley’s intricate portrayal of the function of church and religious beliefs in shaping black identity. It is argued that Gardley’s insightful and multilayered depiction of religion in his drama delineates a rather complex and paradoxical function where African American identity both benefits from, and bears the negative impacts of, religiosity. This study reveals that, in Gardley’s plays, Christianity sometimes acts as a soothing balm to African Americans who have for long fought not only racial discrimination but also collective and individual traumas in various stages of their lives, as in the cases of Free, Maud Lynn and Miss Ssippi. In some cases, however, a type of Christianity promoted by the black church is presented as an obstacle in the way of some African Americans’ recognition of their true identity, as observed in the case of Gumper.