The Emperor Jones - Adaptations

Adaptations

The play was adapted for a 1933 feature film directed by Dudley Murphy and starring Paul Robeson.

Louis Gruenberg wrote an opera based on the play, which was premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1933. Baritone Lawrence Tibbett sang the title role, performing in blackface. Paul Robeson's 1936 film Song of Freedom features a scene from the opera with Robeson singing the role of Jones. This has sometimes resulted in a confusion that the 1933 film of O'Neill's play is a film of the opera.

Ossie Davis starred in a television adaptation for the Kraft Television Theatre in 1955. British television company ABC-TV produced its own adaptation for the Armchair Theatre series which was transmitted on 30 March 1958. It features African-American actor Kenneth Spencer, and was directed by Ted Kotcheff in a version by Terry Southern.

Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote a ballet based on the play, that was commissioned by The Empire Music Festival of New York, and danced by José Limón's company. An experimental video by Christopher Kondek and Elizabeth LeCompte showcases the production of the play by the New York–based performance troupe The Wooster Group, starring Kate Valk and Willem Dafoe.