The rich tradition and current state of Black Theatre is explored in this content, including discussions analyzing contemporary work and pieces honoring trailblazers. Consider starting with the Daughters of Lorraine podcast, the Journal series on the state of Black theatre, or the Journal series on Black women in the performing arts.
The Latest
Essay
Black Survival and Cyclical Fate in Hang Time
by Ciaran Short
4 June 2026
Video
Healing and Health: One Love Method Grounding Practices
A Racial-Justice Theatre Healing Session
Tuesday 9 June 2026
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Podcast
LOUD Queer Youth Theatre: Sustaining Youth-Led, Adult-Supported Arts Community
by Nicolas Shannon Savard, Keyshia Pearl, Roney Jones
Eseovwe Emakunu and Dennis U. Obire, co-founders of the Shanty Theatre, chronicle their work in the Adagbabiri Community in Bayelsa State, which is one of the most educationally deprived states in Nigeria. Using a theatre for development model, the group worked with local children to create a performance that demonstrated the importance of education in the social development of a community and nation.
A Constellation of Artist Talks, Ceremonies, a Digital Performance Showcase, and Varied Conjures/Facilitations on Black Virtuosic Hope-Building
Thursday 27 July - Sunday 30 July 2023
Philadelphia, PA
Highlighting sacred local cultural institutions including the Colored Girls Museum, the Discovery Center, and a ritual tour across the city of Philadelphia, this gathering is a space for a stirring up of a new hope, inspired entirely by the study of our ancestral and living leaders who have built for themselves and their communities a daily practice of Black virtuosic hope.
Amelia Parenteau chronicles the process of translating Eva Doumbia’s Autophagies from French to English and producing its tour in the United States, a project that unfolded across four years.
Panel Discussion with Residents of Concord Park, Pennsylvania
Saturday 22 July 2023
Pennsylvania
Housing rights activist Morris Milgram developed Concord Park outside of Philadelphia as an interracial community at a time when covenants prohibiting the sale of homes to African Americans and other minority groups were routinely included in deeds. Children of the Wonderland Puppet Theatre puppeteers discussed their experience growing up in a neighborhood that intentionally sought to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of beloved community and the role that the Wonderland Puppet Theatre played in unifying neighbors.
Featuring Playwright Cris E. Blak, Director John "Ray" Proctor, and Guest Panelists Glenn Wofford and Joe Hargrove III (AKA DJ Tank)
Friday 30 June 2023
United States
Warrior Writers is a veteran-focused arts organization that fosters artistic exploration and expression through casual, welcoming workshops and retreats. By reflecting and creating in a comfortable space, we encourage and support healing and community building. Art making becomes the creative tool through which we understand and transcend experiences of trauma and emotional disruptions that are not easily identified but constantly felt.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 22 June 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
The Closing Event of No Dream Deferred's We Will Dream: New Works Festival
Monday 19 June 2023
United States
The first year of the We Will Dream: New Works Festival was a success! To close out this amazing experience, join No Dream Deferred at their closing fundraising event, the Juneteenth Liberation Ball. This event will honor Chakula Cha Jua, Karen-Kaia Livers, Lance Nichols, Zardis, and multi-award winning playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza. Our guest speaker will be the 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner, James Ijames.
Playwright Cris E. Blak Shares How his Dream of Writing and Premiering Sons of Liberty Became a Reality
Friday 16 June 2023
New Orleans, Louisiana
Cris Eli Blak is an emerging Black playwright whose work has garnered him recognition from The Negro Ensemble Company, Kairos Italy Theater, Austin Film Festival, Barrington Stage Company, TEDxBroadway, and Ignition Arts. Here he sits down to share how his dream of writing and premiering Sons of Liberty became a reality.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 15 June 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 8 June 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
Featuring Michele Seymour, Philana Imade Omorotionmwan, and Lauren Turner Hines
Friday 2 June 2023
New Orleans, Louisiana
This pre-show discussion was facilitated by Michele Seymour of Project Butterfly New Orleans, Playwright, Philana Omorotionmwan, and Producing Artistic Director of No Dream Deferred, Lauren Turner Hines. They address important themes and takeaways that were present in The Defiance of Dandelions.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 1 June 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the U.S.
Thursday 25 May 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 18 May 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
Culture worker and theatre practitioner Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott provides a primer on her SoulWork process, applies it to her present processes, and expands our horizons as artists.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 11 May 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
Playwright Philana Imade Omorotionmwan Shares How her Dream of Premiering The Defiance of Dandelions Became a Reality
Friday 5 May 2023
New Orleans, Louisiana
Philana Imade Omorotionmwan is writing to save her body and spirit from a world that seems hell-bent on destroying them. She sits down to share how her dream of premiering The Defiance of Dandelions became a reality.
A Conversation with Director Gilbert Laumord, Producer Elvia Gutiérrez, and Festival Director Eddy Compper
Friday 5 May 2023
New York City
Join us for a talk with Caribbean theatre director Gilbert Laumord (Guadeloupe) discussing his latest work, Tale of Black Histories (Histoire de nègre), by the late, legendary Caribbean writer, poet, and philosopher Édouard Glissant. Born in Martinique, writer Édouard Glissant and his colleagues at the Institut Martiniquais d’études (IME) wrote and performed this intellectually rich, formally innovative, yet long-neglected unique play themselves in 1971–72.
An AfroLatine-Led Playwriting Series Featuring Writers/Theatremakers from Across the United States
Thursday 4 May 2023
United States
The AfroLatine Superfriends Playwriting Hour is an incredible opportunity to learn from AfroLatine-led playwrights and theatremakers from all corners of the United States. With a wealth of experience, they will share their writing practices, experiences, and insightful anecdotes on the process, inspiration, and practices of dramatic writing. Live human-edited captions and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available for all live sessions, and human-edited closed captions will available on the archival video.
With Stéphanie Bérard (France), Daniely Francisque (Martinique), Elvia Gutiérrez (Mexico, China), Gaël Octavia, and Others
Tuesday 2 May 2023
New York City
Join us for a conversation celebrating the unique anthology and latest Segal Center Publication, New Plays from the Caribbean, a most significant and lasting part of the 2019 Caribbean Theater Project ACT (Actions Caribéennes Théâtrales)—initiated and co-organized by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City, the theatre company SIYAJ from Guadeloupe, and Stéphanie Bérard.
A Pre-Show Discussion Featuring Playwright Brian Egland, Director Lauren Turner Hines, & Facilitator Dr. Laura Adderley
Friday 28 April 2023
New Orleans, Louisiana
This is a pre-show conversation with Playwright Brian Egland, Director Lauren Turner Hines, & Facilitator Dr. Laura Adderley as they cover important themes that are present during Where The Suga Still Sweet.
Amelia Parenteau introduces the We Will Dream: New Works Festival, a festival showcasing new plays by Black playwrights originating from or working in the American South.