About The Old Settler
For most of us born after the Second World War, the extent of our understanding of the war years, combat or at home, is defined by what we glean from movies, television, books and, of course, the theater. It is a picture most often drawn with broad, heroic strokes. Anything we might be shown of life in Harlem during this period is likely to suggest something exciting and a bit naughty. John Henry Redwood's play, The Old Settler, takes place in Harlem, 1943, but it chooses a different, overlooked story to tell.