1960s are often said to be the most political moment in African American
history because of the emergence of two sociopolitical movements
simultaneously. The black theatre of and about the period reflects the two
movements that shaped it-the mostly Southern, rural-based Civil Rights
Movement, and the mostly Northern, urban-centered Black Arts Movement.
Beginning in 1955, we will look at public performance in the black community
by revisiting the funeral of Emmett Till and the black church as represented in
The Amen Corner by James Baldwin. We will then move to the first play to be
directed, written and acted by African Americans on Broadway, Lorraine
Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959). From Hansberry, we will look at other
Broadway work by Baldwin (Blues for Mr. Charlie, 1964) and Ossie Davis
(Purlie Victorious, 1961), both based in the civil rights movement. We will then
move south geographically to consider the integrated theatre company that
toured Mississippi during the Voter Rights Campaign of 1964, the Free Southern
Theater. The FST itself moved from a theatre of the Civil Rights Movement to a
theatre of the Black Arts Movement. We will then transition to the work of the
Black Arts playwrights LeRoi Jones/Imamu Amiri Baraka, Ed Bullins, Ron
Milner, Sonia Sanchez, Adrienne Kennedy, Alice Childress, Douglas Turner
Ward and Joseph A. Walker. These Black Arts playwrights/activits were all
generating plays written in the black idiom and were then produced at new,
black-run theatres such as the New Lafayette in Harlem and the Negro
Ensemble Company, as well as commercial and non-profit theatres on and
off-Broadway in New York and Los Angeles, and on college campuses.
Format: seminar. Evaluation based on two group scene projects, one 10-20 pp.
final paper on an assigned topic, class participation and class attendance.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected 15). Preference, in order, given
to sophomores, Theatre majors, and Africana Studies concentrators.