Centered squarely on the Negro-white conflict, both "Dutchman" and "The Slave" are literally shocking plays—in ideas, in language, in honest anger. They illuminate, as with a flash of lightning, a deadly serious problem and bring an eloquent and exceptionally powerful voice to the American theater. "Dutchman" opened in New York City on March 24, 1964, to perhaps the most excited acclaim ever accorded an off-Broadway production and shortly thereafter received the Village Voice's Obie Award. "The Slave," which was produced off-Broadway the following fall, continues to be the subject of heated critical controversy.