Spunk By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

The University of Central Florida's theatre program performed Spunk and the Harlem Literati in which I attended on the 22 of January 2016. The musical is based on the play Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston, an adaptation by theatre professor Belinda Boyd and also directed by Mrs. Boyd herself. The play takes place in Harlem during the 1920’s Renaissance in which there is an uprising in writing, poetry, and music amongst the African-American community. Through the use of narration, uplifting energy, and the use of song, theatre Professor Belinda Boyd did an exceptional job telling the story of a love triangle and the growing literacy created by African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance.
Zora Neal Hurston the original playwright, was a famous …show more content…
Hurston, who later becomes the narrator, tells the story of a young man named Spunk. As stated, he is a good looking African-American boy who is new to Eatonville, Florida and swiftly steals the hearts of many young women in the area. In particular, the wife of a well-known Pastor takes notice to Spunk. We later find out that Evalina’s husband is abusive, and as she confides in Spunk the two eventually fall in love creating a conflicting love triangle. With time and heated emotions, a jealous Pastor Jim ends up attacking Spunk in which he is then killed through the use of Spunk’s self defense. When Spunk is then jailed, he escapes to ensure that all is good between Evalina. At the end of the play all conflicts then become resolved and the two are reunited and their love is rekindled by overcoming these traumatic experiences. Although Jim’s character was well played, because he is the antagonist throughout the play and attempts to kill Spunk, I was not pleased with his character. I thought that he was manipulative and dishonest which can make for any bad guy in any …show more content…
While he is known to be a smooth talker, I enjoyed his other characteristics such as his ability to play the guitar. In the play Spunk wears a brown suit, hat and shoes and I thought his style fit his character well. I also liked the way he treated Evalina and how smitten with her he was. Spunk’s actor made him extremely believable. I believed the same for the rest of the cast and would rate the performance a 9/10. I was very drawn into this play, and I made connections with each character. I wanted to know the second Spunk was arrested how he was going to go about making this right with Evalina, and to see if love wins, when in this case it did. I was also a big fan of Spunk’s voice, and thought he had a very persuasive