San Francisco Public Library

A history of African American theatre, Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 547-564) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

A history of African American theatre

bibliography

Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch

Cambridge studies in American theatre and drama

"This is the first definitive history of African-American theatre. The text embraces a wide geography investigating companies from coast to coast as well as the anglophone Caribbean and African-American companies touring Europe, Australia, and Africa. This history represents a catholicity of styles--from African ritual to European forms, from amateur to professional, and from political nationalism to integration. It covers nearly two and a half centuries of black performance and production with issues of gender, class, and race ever in attendance. The volume covers all aspects of performance, including minstrel, vaudeville, cabaret acts, musicals, and opera. Shows by White playwrights that used black casts, particularly in music and dance, are included, as are productions of western classics and a host of Shakespeare plays. The breadth and vitality of black theatre history, from the individual performance to large-scale company productions, from political nationalism to integration, are conveyed in this volume"--, Publisher description

Slavery and conquest: background to black theatre -- The African theatre to Uncle Tom's Cabin -- The Civil War to The Creole Show -- American minstrelsy in black and white -- New vistas: plays, spectacles, musicals, and opera -- The struggle continues -- The Harlem Renaissance -- Educational theatre -- The Caribbean connection -- The Great Depression and federal theatre -- Creeping toward integration -- From Hansberry to Shange -- The millennium -- Theatre scholarship 2002