Sterling Houston
Sterling Houston (1945-2006), born in San Antonio, was a performer, a writer, and a prolific and innovative avant-garde playwright. During his lifetime, he wrote 33 plays, wrote three short novels, and edited anthologies. Twenty-four of his plays were first produced by Jump-Start Performance Co. in San Antonio, from 1988 to 2006. Venues included the Blue Star Arts Complex (Jump-Start Theater), the Carver Cultural Center, and St. Philip's College in San Antonio. His plays were also produced in other parts of the country including New York, Cleveland, Chicago and San Francisco.
Houston worked with some of the greatest practitioners of modern American theater from 1964 to 1981, including Charles Ludlum, Sam Shepard, and George C. Wolfe. Houston returned to San Antonio in 1981 and shortly afterward joined the Jump-Start Performance Co. He served as writer-in-residence and artistic director for the company from 1989 until his death in November, 2006.
Houston was known for his biting social commentary, his taste for both subtle and burlesque humor, and his mastery of multiple genres. The seven plays in this collection showcase his passion for the intersection of history, myth, and folklore, and exhibit his versatile theatricality that combines domestic drama, farce, docudrama, and musical theatre and employed a variety of post-modern special effects. Ever an experimentalist, he also authored three short novels, including Le Griffon: A True Tale of Supernatural Love (Pecan Grove Press, 1999).
Houston's personal papers are archived in the University of Texas at San Antonio's permanent San Antonio Authors Collection. A descriptive summary catalog of the collection is available at:http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utsa/00129/00129-P.html
Works by Sterling Houston
Plays
Harlem: A Renaissance Remembered, 1986
The Modernization of Sainthood, 1988
A Brief History of American Song, 1987
The Late Late Show at the Gilded Cage, 1989
Relationships: Good and Not so Good, 1989
A'lelia, 1990
Kool Jams, 1990
Travels of the Time-Train, 1990
Cheap Talk, 1992
High Yello Rose, 1992
Driving Wheel, 1992
Womandingo, 1992
Isis in Nubia, 1993
La Frontera, 1993
Miranda Rites, 1994
On the Pulse of Morning, by Maya Angelou (adapted for stage by Sterling Houston), 1995
Santo Negro, 1995
Black Lily and White Lily, 1996
Miss Bowden's Dream, 1998
The Alien Show: Kool Jams, 1999
Message Sent, 2000
Le Griffon, 2000
Cameoland, 20002
El Calor de Amor, 2003
Black and Blue, Four Centuries of Struggle and Transcendence, 2003
The Living Graves, 2005
The Last of the Tennessee Waltz, 2006
Leche de Luna, 2006
Millie and Christina, 2006
Hollywood and Time, 2007
Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins, 1994
Miz Johnson and Mr. Jones, undated
The Ballad of Box Brown, undated
Novels and Novellas
Moan You Mourners (La Voz de Esperanza, 1994)
Le Griffon: : A True Tale of Supernatural Love (Pecan Grove Press, 1999)
The Secret Oral Teachings of the Sacred Walking Blues, 2005 (unpublished)
Anthologies
Myth, Magic, and Farce: Four Multicultural Plays by Sterling Houston, ed. Sandra Mayo (University of North Texas Press, 2005)
Jump-Start Play Works, ed. Sterling Houston (Wings Press, 2004)
Four Plays by Sterling Houston, ed. Sandra Mayo (UrbanCommunication, Inc., 1998)
High Yello Rose and Other Texas Plays, by Sterling Houston, edited by Sandra Mayo (Wings Press, 2009)