Green, Paul Eliot (1894-1981), was an American playwright. His works include folk plays and outdoor pageants with American historical themes. The pageants, called symphonic dramas, include music and dancing. Green’s most popular symphonic dramas include The Lost Colony (1937), the story of the colonists on Roanoke Island; and The Common Glory (1947), a dramatization of Thomas Jefferson’s struggle for democracy and Virginia’s contribution to the American Revolution (1775-1783).
Green’s folk plays include In Abraham’s Bosom (1926), a tragedy about a Black American’s struggle for dignity; The House of Connelly (1931), a story of a plantation family’s decline; and Hymn to the Rising Sun (1936), a play about the death of a Black man on a chain gang. In Abraham’s Bosom won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Paul Eliot Green was born on March 17, 1894, near Lillington, North Carolina. He taught dramatic art at the University of North Carolina. His plays show the influence of Frederick Koch, whose Carolina Playmakers led the development of American regional drama. Green died on May 4, 1981.
