Black Theatre

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

Drapetomania Pre-Show Talk

Video

Drapetomania Pre-Show Talk

Featuring Playwright M.D. Schaffer

Friday 31 March 2023

New Orleans, Louisiana

Dare to Dream featuring M.D. Schaffer

Video

Dare to Dream featuring M.D. Schaffer

Playwright M. D. Schaffer Shares How their Dream of Writing and Premiering Drapetomania Became a Reality

Friday 24 March 2023

United States

Plenary with James Ijames

Video

Plenary with James Ijames

We Will Dream: New Works Festival

Monday 20 April 2023

New Orleans, Louisiana

event participant headshots, and event details.

The Revival Is Coming

National Black Theatre

Video

The Revival Is Coming

A symposium of queer Black community leaders who are dedicated to radical healing through communal acts of jubilation

Thursday 9 July 2020

Harlem NY United States

National Black Theatre presented The Revival Is Coming livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 9 July 2020 at 11:30 a.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1:30 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8) / 2:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Event details and headshots of the talk participants.

Black To The Future: Building a Tomorrow

National Black Theatre

Video

Black To The Future: Building a Tomorrow

Join us as we talk with former I AM SOUL residents about envisioning a new future and exploring how to create radically free black spaces.

Thursday 2 July 2020

Harlem NY United States

National Black Theatre presented Black To The Future: Building a Tomorrow livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 2 July 2020 at 11:30 a.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1:30 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8) / 2:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Invitation to a Party Interrupted

Todd

London

Essay

Invitation to a Party Interrupted

1 July 2020

Todd London reflects on why and how we gather, and looks at the canons-in-the-making of four African American playwrights—Jackie Sibblies Drury, Aleshea Harris, Anna Deavere Smith, and Dael Orlandersmith—for how they serve as a map for this moment of revision.

Downtown Variety: Juneteenth

La MaMa

CultureHub

Poetic Societies

Video

Downtown Variety: Juneteenth

An ancestral healing tele-protest to extend the resilience of Detroit and Flint artists to the multiverse of the global Black movement

Friday 19 June 2020

Untied States

La MaMa and CultureHub presented Downtown Variety: Juneteenth livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 19 June 2020 at 2 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 4 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8) / 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC -6) 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (Detroit, UTC -4).

We Don’t Want Your Statements, American Theatre

Kelvin

Dinkins, Jr.

Heartley

Essay

We Don’t Want Your Statements, American Theatre

or, The Solidarity We Actually Needed

11 June 2020

Al Heartley and Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Black theatre managers who work in predominantly white American theatres, respond to the recent “solidarity” statements posted by theatres across the country after George Floyd was killed.

Aaliyah in Underland (Virtual Reading)

University of Puget Sound

Video

Aaliyah in Underland (Virtual Reading)

A Hip Hop remix of Alice in Wonderland that explores the concepts of structural violence, anti-blackness, memory, and self-discovery.

Friday 8 May 2020

Takoma, Washington, USA

The University of Puget Sound’s Projects in Dramaturgy: “Politics & Praxis of Rememory” class presented the virtual reading of Aaliyah in Underland by Wind Dell Woods on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 8 May 2020 at 12 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 3 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 20:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).

Dramaturgy, Black Refusal, and Possibility with Otis Cortez Ramsey-Zoë

Podcast

Dramaturgy, Black Refusal, and Possibility with Otis Cortez Ramsey-Zoë

Daughters of Lorraine Episode #6

28 January 2020

For the final episode of the first season of the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley interview dramaturg and director Otis Cortez Ramsey-Zoë about his work in the Washington DC area, as well as his general thoughts about the state of and stakes for Black theatre.

"in this fine suit"

Aleshea

Harris

Essay

"in this fine suit"

On Being a Black Playwright in the American Theatre

19 January 2020

Playwright Aleshea Harris reflects on the tensions of being a Black theatremaker and "negotiating bodily presence" in a speech at the 2020 Under the Radar Festival Professional Symposium.

Playwrights Nurturing Cultural Community

Pearl

Cleage

Vera

Starbard (Tlingit/Dena’ina)

Essay

Playwrights Nurturing Cultural Community

Pearl Cleage and Vera Starbard in Conversation, Part II

15 January 2020

In part two of their conversation, Vera Starbard and Pearl Cleage—playwrights-in-residence at Juneau, Alaska’s Perseverance Theatre and Atlanta, Georgia’s Alliance Theatre, respectively—talk about different cultural practices, the white gaze, moving away from anger, and more.

Vocalizing Difficult Issues as Playwrights in Residence

Pearl

Cleage

Vera

Starbard (Tlingit/Dena’ina)

Essay

Vocalizing Difficult Issues as Playwrights in Residence

Pearl Cleage and Vera Starbard in Conversation, Part I

14 January 2020

In part one of their conversation, playwrights Vera Starbard and Pearl Cleage talk about their respective residencies—at Juneau, Alaska’s Perseverance Theatre and Atlanta, Georgia’s Alliance Theatre, respectively—race and representation at their institutions, not writing for a white audience, and more.

The Ritual of What to Send Up When it Goes Down

Podcast

The Ritual of What to Send Up When it Goes Down

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast #5

8 January 2020

Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley discuss the transformative power of Aleshea Harris' What to Send Up When it Goes Down by centering Black rage, ritual, and healing on this episode of the Daughters of Lorraine podcast.

Staging Slavery by Black Playwrights

Podcast

Staging Slavery by Black Playwrights

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast #4

9 December 2019

In this episode of the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley focus on representations of slavery on stage by Black playwrights beginning from the early 19th century to the 1960s.

The Caribbean Theatre Project

Segal

Center

Video

The Caribbean Theatre Project

at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City

Monday 2 December - Tuesday 3 December 2019

New York City

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presents the Caribbean Theatre Project livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 2 December and Tuesday 3 December 2019.

Riding Along with Jitney

Podcast

Riding Along with Jitney

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Episode #3

25 November 2019

On this episode of the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley review Arena Stage's production of August Wilson’s Jitney, directed by Black theatre legend, Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

dancer standing on stage with back to audience

Africana Dance Dramaturgies: How Do We Represent?

Segal

Center

Video

Africana Dance Dramaturgies: How Do We Represent?

at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City

Monday 18 November 2019

New York City

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented Africana Dance Dramaturgies: How Do We Represent? livestreamed on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 18 November 2019 at 6:30 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 3:30 p.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 23:30 GMT (London, UTC +0)

The American Theatre Was Killing Me

Essay

The American Theatre Was Killing Me

Healing from Racialized Trauma in an Art Workspace

18 November 2019

Amelia Parenteau speaks with Lauren E. Turner about racialized trauma in American theatre, Lauren’s experience with it, and healing.

Early Black Feminist Theatre and Lynching Dramas Revisited

Podcast

Early Black Feminist Theatre and Lynching Dramas Revisited

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Episode #2

12 November 2019

For this episode of the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley focus on the histories and enduring legacies of lynching dramas, covering early twentieth century history of Black women playwrights using theatre for protest ends, and situating them in Black feminism and Black radical tradition.

A Conversation on Fairview

Podcast

A Conversation on Fairview

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Episode #1

28 October 2019

On this first episode of Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, Leticia Ridley and Jordan Ealey discuss Woolly Mammoth's production of Fairview by Jackie Sibbilies Drury, its theoretical and theatrical interventions, as well as situate it in the historical and cultural contexts of Black theatre.

The Only Thing Black Writers Really Have is Their Relationships

Essay

The Only Thing Black Writers Really Have is Their Relationships

9 October 2019

Producer Tobi Kyeremateng and poet/writer Roger Robinson talk about Black writers in the UK, creative citizenship, activism in the arts, and more.

two panelists seated in front an audience

Curating Freedom and Power for Women of Color in Leadership

Essay

Curating Freedom and Power for Women of Color in Leadership

26 September 2019

Linda Parris-Bailey and Diane Rodriguez talk about their own leadership transitions and what’s next, gender, race, and economic barriers; documenting work; and more.

You Must Kick Up a Fuss

Essay

You Must Kick Up a Fuss

24 September 2019

Black British writers Matilda Ibini and Oladipo (Dipo) Agboluaje talk about choosing to study theatre at school, crowdfunding, Afrofuturism, and more.

A performance of The Mamalogues

The VORTEX

Video

A performance of The Mamalogues

at the VORTEX in Austin, Texas

Friday 30 August 2019

Austin, Texas

Color Arc Productions and The VORTEX presented a performance of The Mamalogues livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 30 August 2019 at 9 p.m. EDT (New York) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles).

a slide comparing the number of white directors versus directors of color from 2007-2017

Playwrights of Color, White Directors, and Exposing Racist Policy

Nicole

Brewer

Essay

Playwrights of Color, White Directors, and Exposing Racist Policy

29 August 2019

Nicole Brewer examines a prominent racist policy in theatre—when plays written by people of color are staged by white directors—through the lens of actors, theatregoers, and playwrights themselves.

A New Identity for Oklahoma

Tara Brooke

Watkins

Essay

A New Identity for Oklahoma

7 August 2019

Tara Brooke Watkins discusses how Oklahoma! has shaped the state’s cultural identity, the Tulsa Race Massacre, and Spinning Plates’s production of the musical with an all-black cast.

a row of women with linked arms behind date text

Urban Bush Women's 2019 Summer Leadership Institute Culminating Performance

Urban Bush Women

CultureHub

Video

Urban Bush Women's 2019 Summer Leadership Institute Culminating Performance

at Gibney Dance in New York City

Saturday 20 July 2019

New York City

Urban Bush Women presented the 2019 Summer Leadership Institute Culminating Performance livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 20 July at 4 p.m. EDT (New York) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles), and then again at 7:315 p.m. EDT (New York) / 6:15 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4:15 p.m. (Los Angeles).