Plays

Hughes not only wrote poetry and novels but he also wrote many plays. He wrote some twenty plays, including "Mulatto," "Simply Heavenly," and "Tambourines to Glory".  Hughes most popular play Mulatto was adapted from one of his short stories. Its a deep south tragedy that is centered around mixed races and a sense of parental rejection. In 1949  Hughes wrote a play that inspired the opera Troubled Island. Hughes also contributed the lyrics to the Broadway musical Street Scene.