Black Theatre

This lens is your gateway to knowledge about African and African American theatre. Plays, playwrights, productions and the history of African American theatre can be explored here.

Photo: Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe (director) and Keskehmnu (G-Roc) rehearsing Trinity Rep's production of Robert Alexander's A Preface To The Alien Garden

Indiana University Black Play Lab and Mini-Conference on Black Theatre

Yours truly has received a grant and is trying to change the world!

INDIANA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DRAMA
and NEW FRONTIERS IN THE ARTS & HUMANITIES
announces the creation of the
2008 IU BLACK PLAY LAB
July 18th - Aug 3rd, 2008
&
*mini-conference on Black Theatre*
Aug 1 - 3rd, 2008
Lee Norvelle Theatre & Drama Center
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

Call of Papers and Participation in the mini-conference August 1-3rd, 2008
Indiana University, Bloomington

The mini-conference seeks to stimulate scholarship and discussion surrounding Black theatre - its relevance, creation and practice. We seek to create definitions of Black theatre, both continental and abroad, and interrogate it within the context of the Black community, the nation and in relationship to other popular culture as well as identity and honor Black theatre artists, past and present. The conference is organized around a two-week play development workshop with playwrights Robert Alexander and Niyi Coker, Jr., who will be developing new plays that will be presented at the conference with professional directors, dramaturg and actors. Papers, workshops, panel discussions and reports are invited on any aspect of Black theatre and performance.

We are seeking participation from scholars, playwrights, directors and other practitioners of Black theatre and performance. Please send abstracts and proposals of 250 words or less (Word or rtf format), along with a current CV via email to conference organizer, Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe by midnight EDT, June 1, 2008.
E-mail: ecoopera@indiana.edu.
(Pay particular attention to the 'a' at the end 'cooper' of the email-address!)

Created through a generous gift from the Lilly Endowment Inc., New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities Program help faculty at Indiana University to expand their work into disciplinary or interdisciplinary frontiers that promise new insights into the human condition or pursue innovative directions in artistic creativity. Administrative and financial oversight is provided by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research

This Just In!

August Wilson Anthology

A decade of plays by the late great Mr. Wilson. Quite an accomplishment and a legacy.

August Wilson Century Cycle

by: August Wilson

Amazon Price: $129.36 (as of 12/05/2008)

African American Theatres

Here are links to African American theatre companies. Note: There aren't many.

Cultural Odyssey: A performance company featuring the legendary Rhodessa Jones. Also information on Jones' The Medea Project; Theatre For Incarcerated Women
The Black Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: The largest professional African American theatre in the country and one of the few African American regional theatres.
Artistic Director, Ron Himes
Providence Black Repertory Company: Providence Black Rep is a new (1996) company, located in Providence, Rhode Island and dedicated to works by and about Black people.
In addition, they have a beautiful cultural and educational center with a fabulous lounge that often features wonderful jazz, poetry and other events.
Artisic Director, Don King
Plowshares Theatre Company: Founded in 1989, Plowshares Theatre Company of Detroit, Michigan is dedicated to preserving African American history and culture. They are noted as the sixth largest professional African American theatre company in the US.
Artistic Director, Gary Anderson
African American Shakespeare Company: This company is dedicated to bringing Shakespeare and other European classics to the stage within an African American cultural context.
Artistic Director, Sherri Young
Negro Ensemble Company: Founded in 1967 by Douglas Turner Ward (Day of Absence), the NEC was one of the first outlets for Black theatrical talent in the US. A ground-breaking theatre company, their roster reads like a who's-who of African American theatre and film.

Books on Black Theatre

Here is a reading list for the study of the history and art of Black theatre and its practitioners.

Black Theatre: Ritual Performance in the African Diaspora

Amazon Price: $30.95 (as of 12/05/2008)

Classic Plays from the Negro Ensemble Company

by: Harrison/Edwards

Amazon Price: $34.95 (as of 12/05/2008)

In the Shadow of the Great White Way: Images from the Black Theatre

by: Bert Andrews, Paul Carter Harrison

Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2008)

Drama of Nommo: Black Theatre in the African Continuum

by: Paul Carter Harrison

The bible of Black performance theory

Amazon Price: $45.00 (as of 12/05/2008)

A Sourcebook of African-American Performance: Plays, People, Movements (Worlds of Performance)

by: Annemarie Bean

Covers African American performance from classical drama to fraternity step shows

Amazon Price: $44.95 (as of 12/05/2008)

Colored Contradictions: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Plays

A ground-breaking anthology of contemporary Black plays

Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2008)

The Fire This Time: African-American Plays for the 21st Century

A follow up to Colored Contradictions - great anthology of contemporary Black plays

Amazon Price: $14.17 (as of 12/05/2008)

African American Performance and Theater History: A Critical Reader

Amazon Price: $110.00 (as of 12/05/2008)

The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson

by: Harry Justin Elam

Amazon Price: $65.00 (as of 12/05/2008)

A History of African American Theatre (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama)

by: Errol G. Hill, James V. Hatch

Amazon Price: $140.00 (as of 12/05/2008)

Black Theatre, USA: Plays by African Americans: The Recent Period, 1935-Today

by: Ted Shine

Amazon Price: $22.10 (as of 12/05/2008)

Black Musical Theatre: From Coontown to Dreamgirls (Da Capo Paperback)

by: Allen L. Woll

Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2008)

The Impact of Race: Theatre and Culture

by: Jr., Woodie King

Amazon Price: $26.95 (as of 12/05/2008)

Black Plays on Film

The Piano Lesson

August Wilson's tale of tension between the metaphysical fallout and the material legacy of slavery. With Alfre Woodard and Charles Dutton

Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2008)

Lackawanna Blues

Based on Reuben Santiago's autobiographical one man show, this film sports a brilliant ensemble cast with S. Epatha Merkeson, Terrance Howard, Carmen Ejogo, Delroy Lindo, Louis Gossett and Macy Gray

Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 12/05/2008)

A Raisin in the Sun

Adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's award winning and ground breaking play with Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil.

Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 12/05/2008)

A Raisin in the Sun

A remake of the film adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play. With Danny Glover, Starletta Dupois and Stephen Henderson. Directied by Bill Duke

Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2008)

The River Niger

From Joseph A. Walker's popular Broadway play, with James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson and Louis Gossett, Jr.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2008)

Sty of the Blind Pig (Broadway Theatre Archive)

(1974) Based on the play by Philip Hayes Dean and directed by Ivan Dixon (Hogan's Heroes) with Mary Alice and Scatman Crothers

Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/05/2008)

The First Breeze of Summer (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Based on Leslie Lee's play, this 1976 archival film features Ethel Ayler, Frances Foster and Moses Gunn

Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/05/2008)

Freeman (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Directed by Lloyd Richards, this Philip Hayes Dean play (1977) stars Chip Fields (mother of Kim Fields), Dick Anthony Williams and Lousi Gossett, Jr.

Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/05/2008)

Parentheses of Blood

Picture from my production of Parentheses of Blood, a play by Congolese writer, Sony Labou Tansi - performed by the BFA in Performance at Naropa University led by Pearl Ubungen
May, 2006
Director - Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe
Design(Light & Sets) - Christopher Fleming
Asst. Director - Annie Lanzilotto
Cast:
Gabriel Todd, Sojourner Wright, Brendan Sheehan, Evan Roman, Lexi Honiotes, Caitlin Bargenquast, Michele Arrietta, Jessica Johnson, Tim Hernandez, Mario Gonzales, Karina Goldberg, Jason Kelly, Ariel Hart, Bri McGeehan and Troy Suben
photo: Christopher Fleming

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