Biography

Born in New Haven, CT on September 11, 1927, William Blackwell Branch first learned to love theater by watching his Methodist minister father in the pulpit and by staging backyard plays. He spent his childhood in New York, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., due to his father's changing assignments within the church.

He graduated from Northwestern University in 1949 with a BS in speech, and presented his first play, A Medal for Willie, two years later at Club Baron in Harlem. He served in the army from 1950-1953, at which time he finished the writing on his second play, In Splendid Error. The play was staged at New York's Greenwich Mews Theater from October 1954 to January 1955. Williams was one of the country's leading black playwrights in the 50s, with three more plays produced before the end of the decade.

His perception at that time of the country's lack of support for black theater also led him into radio, television and film work, with productions for ABC, NBC and CBS, among others. He received the 1958 Robert E. Sherwood Television Award and National Conference of Christians and Jews prizes in 1958 for his NBC drama Light in the Southern Sky. (Full Bio)*

Plays

A MEDAL FOR WILLIE (1949)

Willie Jackson is a black veteran who fought for freedoms he did not have at home and has been killed fighting abroad. His mother is to receive a posthumous medal for her son, but she bravely disrupts the public ceremony. Mrs. Jackson, in simple, direct language, refuses the medal. (Source)

Cast Requirement: 20 (4f, 16m)

Characters: Taylor, Mrs. Jackson, Lucy Mae, Captain, Mayor, Superintendent, General, Barber, Customer, Editor, Reporter, Bernice, Buddy, White Boy, Principal, Mr. Jackson, A Janitor, A Janitress, A Shineboy, A Photographer

Publication: A Medal for Willie. Black Drama Anthology, edited by Woodie King, Jr. and Ron Milner (1971). (Link)

IN SPLENDID ERROR (1954)

Historical drama about Frederick Douglass grappling with the practical, personal, and psychological problems of supporting his friend John Brown, as both seek an effective way to fight slavery.

Cast Requirement: 12 (2f, 10m)

Characters: The Reverend Loguen, Joshua, Anna Douglass, Lewis Douglass, George Chatham, Theodore Tilton, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, Annie Douglass, Shields Green, Colonel Hugh Forbes, Frank Sanborn

Publication: In Splendid Error.” A Play in Three Acts. (Link)*

a wreath for udomo (1962)

Based on the novel by South African writer Peter Abrahams, A Wreath for Udomo, explores the complexities of liberation and leadership through the character of Michael Udomo, a fictional liberator of the imagined nation of Panafrica. The story begins in London, where Udomo arrives as a struggling doctoral candidate, driven by a desire to dismantle British colonial rule. He becomes a prominent figure in the Panafrican nationalist movement, founding the newspaper Queenstown Post and rallying support for a revolution against colonial oppression. (Source)

Cast Requirement: 10+

Characters: Michael Udomo, Husband, Child, Wife, Soldier, David Mendhi, Richard Adebhoy, Selina, Selina’s Child, and more

Publication: A Wreath for Udomo. A New Play by William Branch, Based upon the Novel by Peter Abrahams. 1962. (Link)

BACCALAUREATE (1975)

Domestic drama about a young black woman graduate student who is rooming with her married sister's family, and is forced to choose between comfortable middle class ambitions and an exciting but perilous involvement with a young black activist.

Cast Requirement: 9 (3f, 6m)

Characters: Martha Hill, Dockery Hill, Angela Williams, Roger Sampson, Dickie Hill, Johnny Hill, Charlie, Mrs. Wembley, Kenny Powers

Publication: Baccalaureate : A New Play. 1975. (Link)*