Response Prompt: Mule-Bone Act I

1. As the play opens up, you get a foreshadowing of the two major conflicts of the play- the love triangle of Daisy, Jim, and Dave, and the religious disagreement between the Methodists and the Baptists (although their disagreement doesn't have anything to do with religion or theological issues). However, thirty or so pages go by before the escalation of the fight between Dave and Jim. In the meantime, what is the first act spent focused on? As the introduction explains, Hurston and Hughes were attempting to create a unique depiction of a black community for the stage; how does the first act help frame this community? What kind of freedom do the characters have in an all African American town in this time period that they wouldn't have otherwise? 
2. Hurston and Hughes also sought to depict this African American community through authentic language, using heavy and specific dialect. Another facet of this language is the shifting use of the monologue- how are monologues used differently in Mule Bone? What are they used to convey? In the plays we've read so far this semester, monologues are usually reserved for main characters. Is this true in Mule-Bone? What is the effect of re-appropriating this well known dramatic convention?