Aretha and the G-Man

by Mildred Inez Lewis

It's 1967. Aretha Franklin's "Respect" has become a hit and civil rights anthem, triggering FBI surveillance. Aretha uses the late night surveillance to work through her dilemmas, creating an unlikely kinship between the Queen of Soul and her spy.

It's 1967. Aretha Franklin's "Respect" has become a hit and civil rights anthem, triggering FBI surveillance. Aretha uses the late night surveillance to work through her dilemmas, creating an unlikely kinship between the Queen of Soul and her spy.

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Aretha and the G-Man

Recommended by

  • Patricia Milton: Aretha and the G-Man by Mildred Inez Lewis
    “

    I had the pleasure of enjoying this play in a reading at IAMA in Los Angeles. It's a fascinating glimpse not only into a different aspect of Aretha, but into the FBI and its focus on stalking and spying on Black activists at the time. Engaging from start to finish.

    I had the pleasure of enjoying this play in a reading at IAMA in Los Angeles. It's a fascinating glimpse not only into a different aspect of Aretha, but into the FBI and its focus on stalking and spying on Black activists at the time. Engaging from start to finish.

    ”
  • Daniel Hirsch: Aretha and the G-Man by Mildred Inez Lewis
    “

    This play completely transformed my image of the musical icon that has become too reduced to just her hits. Messy, funny, vulnerable, radical, this Aretha brims with complexity and paradox as she plays a gripping psychological cat and mouse game with none other than the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    This play completely transformed my image of the musical icon that has become too reduced to just her hits. Messy, funny, vulnerable, radical, this Aretha brims with complexity and paradox as she plays a gripping psychological cat and mouse game with none other than the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    ”
ARETHA FRANKLIN (mid 20s, African American) Aretha is not yet the full diva, the Queen of Soul would become. Although deeply private, she's completely and publicly committed to the civil rights movement. She's also playful, sensual, while being reserved with a sly sense of humor.

PATRICK FIELDING (early 20s, white), FBI Special Agent. Strait-laced, baby-faced Mormon. A recent Yale grad, he's just returned with his pregnant wife from his mandatory Mormon mission to find the United States much changed. Deeply conservative, he never takes off his suit.

WILFORD LAYTON (50s, white) FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC). He's a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) grad and former Marine. Fit and buttoned down, serving in the Korean War made Wilford a more flexible man.

CECIL FRANKLIN (late 20s, African American) Aretha's brother and recently appointed manager. Even in civilian "cool cat" clothes, he looks and acts like a dad/slightly hip church man.

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