Mulebone

Mulebone is a play written by American authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston in 1930. The play centers on the character of Jim Weston, a man in Eatonville, Florida, who is struck on the head with a mule bone during a dispute with Daisy Taylor over the affections of another woman, Mattie.

The play explores themes of community, social hierarchy, and gender roles within the context of a small, predominantly Black town in the Jim Crow South. The central conflict revolves around the question of how to handle the dispute between Jim and Daisy, with the town's different factions holding varying opinions on whether it should be treated as a legal matter, a church matter, or simply a personal affair.

Mulebone is significant because it represents a collaboration between two of the most important figures of the Harlem Renaissance. However, their collaboration ultimately ended in a bitter dispute over authorship and control of the work, leading to a fractured relationship that never fully healed. While the play was written in 1930, it wasn't professionally produced until 1991, premiering at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. The production helped to bring renewed attention to the work and its complex themes.