In 1931, Hurston had an unfortunate misunderstanding with Langston Hughes over the rights and authorship of Mule Bone, a play that they had hoped would be a collaborative effort. The bitter dispute severed their friendship. The 1991 edition of Mule Bone (Harper Perennial), edited by G. H. Barr and H. L. Gates, contains the complete story of the Mule Bone controversy.
With more zeal for her folklore than practical theatrical knowledge, Hurston launched into theatrical ventures to try to do alone what she had not been able to accomplish with Hughes. She was distressed that blacks were too often presented as caricatures onstage. She did not see what she considered to be honest presentations of the sort of people and lifestyles that she loved. She had no interest in acting, but she did want to try her hand at writing, casting, and producing. The odds were risky: Her knowledge of folklore far outweighed both her knowledge of the theater and her ability to get along with men and women in academia.
In January 1931, Hurston contributed three sketches to Fast and Furious, a revue that ran for a week and closed. Her next effort was Jungle Fever, a project for which she cared so much that she held rehearsals in her apartment and worked with a cast of Bahamans, including men with nicknames like Stew Beef and Motor Boat. Later, she used this play's storyline in subsequent theatrical efforts, including The Great Day, which was presented for a one-Sunday-only performance in January 1932.
