"Rachel" was written by Angelina Weld Grimke, a playwright, poet, journalist and teacher. The play was first produced by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1916 at the Myrtill Miner Normal School in Washington DC. The three-act play was one of the first to protest racial violence, showing the effects of lynching to members of the African-American community.
Also known by the shorter title "Mulatto," it was the first full-length play written by Harlem Renaissance playwright, poet, novelist and journalist Langston Hughes. The play, detailing the conflict between a white plantation owner and his mulatto son he refuses to recognize as his son, was first performed on Broadway in 1935. Quite controversial, the play was banned in Philadelphia. Other plays written by Hughes include "Little Ham," "Emperor of Haiti," and "Don't You Want to be Free?"
"Undertow" was written by Eulalie Spence, a playwright, actress, director and teacher originally from the British West Indies. Most of Spence's plays were comedies, but "Undertow" was a drama, which was about a man who didn't follow his heart and married the wrong woman. The play also highlighted the wife's jealousy of the other woman's lighter-colored skin. Other plays written by Spence include "Her," "The Hunch," "Hot Stuff" and "Episode."
"'Cruiter," an Opportunity drama-prize winner in 1926, was written by John F. Matheus. The play is about the migration of African Americans to the North during World War I. Matheus, born in West Virginia, was a playwright, teacher and writer during the Harlem Renaissance. His other plays include "Tambour," "Ti Yette," "Black Damp," and "Guitar." He also wrote an opera and numerous short stories.