Two of America’s most infamous artistic frictions – the 1930‑era clash between Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, and the 1993 televised showdown between Larry Kramer and Dr. Anthony Fauci – are back onstage, reminding audiences that “historical frenemy” dynamics still shape American theatre today. In Trenton, New Jersey, David Robson’s Muleheaded dramatizes the aborted collaboration that birthed the ill‑fated play Mule Bone, whereas at NYU’s Skirball Center, Daniel Fish’s Kramer/Fauci reenacts the heated C‑SPAN interview that defined the early AIDS debate. Both productions explore how personal rivalry and public responsibility can collide on the boards.
The resurgence of these stories comes at a moment when theatre companies are revisiting the cultural battles that forged, and sometimes fractured, twentieth‑century American art. By staging the unfinished business of Hurston and Hughes alongside the fraught partnership of Kramer and Fauci, the two shows offer a rare double‑header on how “historical frenemy” relationships have rippled through literature, public health, and the stage.
Muleheaded revives a Harlem Renaissance feud
In 1930‑31 Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes attempted to turn Hurston’s short story “Mule Bone” into a folk‑epic play that would confront minstrel stereotypes and celebrate Black Southern life. Funded by white patron Charlotte van der Veer Quick Mason – known in the community as “the Godmother” for her generous support of Harlem Renaissance artists – the project also enlisted typist Louise Thompson to record the duo’s drafts.
The collaboration quickly unraveled. Disagreements over authorship, creative control, and financial terms led to a bitter copyright dispute that halted the play’s production. The fallout not only ended Hurston’s and Hughes’s friendship but also sent shockwaves through their tightly‑knit artistic network, which included Bessie Smith, painter Aaron Douglas, and magazine Fire!! co‑founder Wallace Thurman.
“Many writers who have written about the Harlem Renaissance, as well as Langston Hughes himself, said their friendship both began and ended the Harlem Renaissance,” says Brishen Miller, artistic director of Passage Theatre, which is presenting Robson’s Muleheaded through Feb. 15, 2024 [Passage Theatre]. The production compresses the 1930‑31 timeline, focusing on the intimate trio of Hurston, Hughes, and Thompson, and sidesteps the legal letters that dominated the real‑world drama.
Critics have noted that the original Mule Bone was conceived as an “anti‑minstrel” work, aiming to reclaim Southern archetypes from racist caricature. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Later wrote that the play “would have allowed Black art to speak in its own voice, without prior restraint” [PBS]. Although the play never reached Broadway, a staged reading at Lincoln Center in 1991 finally gave audiences a glimpse of what might have been [NYT Review].
Robson, a writing professor at Delaware County Community College, says his aim was to “show how intimacy creates tension and secrets, which in turn fuels drama.” The result is a tightly paced courtroom‑like narrative that lets modern viewers hear Hurston and Hughes argue, collaborate, and ultimately part ways – all within the span of a single New Jersey living room.
Kramer/Fauci stages a 1993 public‑health showdown
On a November 1993 C‑SPAN broadcast, playwright‑activist Larry Kramer and National Institute of Health director Dr. Anthony Fauci sparred over the federal response to the AIDS crisis. Kramer, whose earlier work The Normal Heart dramatized the epidemic, accused the government of moving “as slow as a snail” while Fauci defended the scientific process and urged a measured approach.
Director Daniel Fish translates that televised exchange into a stage piece that runs at NYU’s Skirball Center from Feb. 11‑21, 2024 [Skirball Center]. Will Brill portrays a buttoned‑up Fauci, while Thomas Jay Ryan embodies a passionate Kramer. The production uses in‑ear monitors to sync actors’ lines with the original audio, and a minimalist set of 54 house‑aimed lights, designed by Scott Zielinski, creates an almost clinical atmosphere.
“That TV interview is an act of performance from those guys,” Fish explains. “They know each other’s roles, and the tension comes from that awareness.” The play also incorporates callers voiced by Jennifer Seastone and a C‑SPAN interviewer played by Greig Sargent, adding layers of audience interaction that were absent from the original broadcast.
Beyond the theatrical spectacle, the show resonates amid today’s public‑health debates. Funding for the National Institutes of Health was recently preserved by Congress after a series of legal challenges [Congressional Record], and Dr. Fauci remains a polarizing figure in the national conversation on vaccines and pandemic response.
In the original 1993 interview, Kramer repeatedly urged President Clinton to invoke “emergency powers” to combat AIDS, likening the crisis to the military response in Desert Storm. While such powers were never formally applied, three years later the FDA approved Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), dramatically reducing AIDS mortality in the United States [FDA History]. Both men, though at odds, contributed to that turning point.
Why these frenemy stories matter today
Both productions underscore how personal conflict can catalyze, or cripple, cultural progress. The Hurston‑Hughes rift illustrates the fragility of artistic networks during the Great Depression, while the Kramer‑Fauci clash highlights the tension between activist urgency and bureaucratic caution in a public‑health emergency.
“The circles were so tight that one rift rippled out,” Miller notes of the Harlem Renaissance community. Likewise, Fish observes that “the way these two men are able to disagree with each other, and be able to do that in a meaningful way—that is something we seem to have lost.” Both shows invite audiences to reconsider how “historical frenemy” dynamics shape not only the past but also contemporary discourse.
At a glance:
- Muleheaded – Trenton’s Passage Theatre (through Feb. 15, 2024); director Brishen Miller; focuses on Hurston, Hughes, and typist Louise Thompson.
- Kramer/Fauci – NYU Skirball Center (Feb. 11‑21, 2024); director Daniel Fish; reconstructs the 1993 C‑SPAN interview.
- Both productions explore the impact of personal rivalry on broader cultural movements.
- Historical context spans the Harlem Renaissance (c. 1925‑1935) to the AIDS crisis of the early 1990s.
As these “historical frenemy” narratives accept the stage, they remind us that artistic and scientific breakthroughs often emerge from conflict as much as collaboration. Both Muleheaded and Kramer/Fauci will run for limited engagements, but their relevance endures as we continue to grapple with questions of representation, public policy, and the power of dissent.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how past conflicts shape today’s cultural landscape. Share your comments below and spread the word on social media.
