Profiles, interviews, and essays spanning four decades of Black theatre and performing arts — from the Negro Ensemble Company and Vinnette Carroll to Pearl Cleage, Cicely Tyson, Tonya Pinkins, and the next generation of Black theatre makers.
I would not dare provide a summary of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, the third of the Broadway-produced plays in his American Century Cycle. To do so would be nothing…
The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, Illinois is a haven for creativity and community. So, how befitting to talk with the consummate actress, writer and director, Cheryl Lynn…
The Negro Ensemble Company was born from a challenge. In 1966, fresh from a triumphant run of his two one-act plays, Day of Absence and Happy Ending at the St. Marks Playhouse on…
Gertrude Jeannette
Colby Christina is truly New York's very own "rising star" and she continues to achieve much success. At the age of fifteen, Colby has been labeled a formidable "triple threat"…
Growing the African American theater audience is both an art and a science. Using marketing techniques to expand and diversify a theater's audience requires knowledge of a…
How does theater play a role in our lives? Is it like love? Like food or clothing? Do we need it? What is the purpose of theater in the lives of people of African descent? Is it…
Speechless at Her Beauty
Theodore "Ted" Ward was one of the great pioneers of African American theatre. His legacy as a playwright and also as a teacher and mentor to generations of Black playwrights,…
I met Vinnette Carroll in 1975. I was in the second semester of my second year at the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago. Vinnette was an invited special…
Terrence Spivey is a trailblazer, a creator, a restorer! Since taking the reins of Cleveland's Karamu House as artistic director in 2003, he has blazed an impressive trail —…
When my daughter Andrea called to tell me about the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, I said, "Let's go!" I have always talked about going to China because as a child, I had a book…
Donna Walker-Kuhne is truly international. And, I don't just say that because she is the founder and president of Walker International Communications Group, the marketing company…
I like to call him Mr. Black Theatre. He is a man who has dedicated his life to making sure that Black playwrights, and especially women playwrights, have a venue to get their…
The name T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh has favorably resonated with television, film, and theatre audiences for more than twenty years. As a five-year series regular on Fox's Emmy…
[Brothers] say that when the ships pulled up on the shores of Africa and the slavers came ashore to look for us, we [women] were the ones who held them back....We were the ones,…
"We are a small but responsible organization," says Deborah Barber, executive director of the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta (YEA). But a quick look at the stats for this thriving arts…
Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received — only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love,…
(Excerpted from Barbara Ann Teer and the National Black Theatre: Transformational Forces in Harlem (New York: Garland Publishing, 1997.)
Gifted actress Lynda Gravatt, three-time AUDELCO Award winner (2003, 2004 and 2007) and winner of the Helen Hayes Award (2004), was born in Harlem in 1946. For many years her…
The first week of September, I boarded a plane for Chicago to attend the first National Meeting of Women of Color Writing Drama sponsored by the Black Women Playwrights' Group…
(I first heard of the Augusta Mini Theatre when they subscribed to Black Masks in its 1984-1985 inaugural year. I recall being very excited that the word about the magazine had…
In 1988, Larry Leon Hamlin sat in my office at New Federal Theatre sharing with Herman Leverne Jones and myself his dream to establish a national forum where artists of color from…
The power of three has long been revered in ancient and modern cultures as a symbol of ultimate strength, a catalyst for dynamic change, a combination that could unlock great…
In March 1989, Michael Garza and I founded Plowshares Theatre Company. Established on the ideal of diversity in artistic expression, we formed the company to provide challenging…
Congratulations to the National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) on what seemed to be a successful eighteenth presentation. From all appearances, the fine arts, music, dance, theatre,…
All the world's a stage for Progress Theatre — literally. In 2008, they will join an elite number of theatre companies from around the world on tour as part of the World Music…
