Three one-act plays written by poet Ridgely Torrence between 1914 and 1917, Grammy Maumee, Simon the Cyrenian, and The Rider of Dreams, made up a 5 April 1917 bill called Three Plays for a Negro Theatre at New York's Garden City Theatre, where it ran until 14 April, when it moved to the Garrick Theatre until 24 April. Torrence's goal was to present African American life with more realism than it had been portrayed in American drama up to that time. The bill was the first to feature all-black casts on Broadway. Partly due to America's entry in World War I, Three Plays for a Negro Theatre had a short run, but Torrence published the plays under the same title.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.