| A Soldier's Play | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Charles Fuller |
| Characters | Capt. Davenport Sgt. Waters Pvt. Wilkie Cpl. Cobb Pvt. Smalls Capt. Taylor C.J. Memphis Cpl. Ellis Pfc. Peterson Pvt. Henson Big Mary Lt. Byrd Capt. Wilcox Sgt. Washington Col. Nivens |
| Date premiered | November 20, 1981 |
| Place premiered | Negro Ensemble Company at Theatre Four, 424 W 55th Street[1] New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | Racism, military life, police procedural |
| Genre | Mystery; drama |
| Setting | Fort Neal, Louisiana, in 1944 |
A Soldier's Play is a play by American playwright Charles Fuller. Set on a US Army installation in the segregation-era South, the play is a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd, and follows the murder investigation of the Sergeant in an all-black unit. The play uses a murder mystery to explore the complicated feelings of anger and resentment that some African Americans have toward one another, and the ways in which many black Americans have absorbed white racist attitudes.
The drama won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among other accolades. It was the basis for a 1984 feature film adaptation, A Soldier's Story, for which Fuller wrote the screenplay.