Black Theater, City Life: African American Art Institutions and Urban Cultural EcologiesMacelle Mahala’s rich study of contemporary African American theater institutions reveals how they reflect and shape the histories and cultural realities of their cities. Arguing that the community in which a play is staged is as important to the work’s meaning as the script or set, Mahala focuses on four cities’ “arts ecologies” to shed new light on the unique relationship between performance and place: Cleveland, home to the oldest continuously operating Black theater in the country; Pittsburgh, birthplace of the legendary playwright August Wilson; San Francisco, a metropolis currently experiencing displacement of its Black population; and Atlanta, a city with forty years of progressive Black leadership and reverse migration. Black Theater, City Life looks at Karamu House Theatre, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburgh Playwrights’ Theatre Company, the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, the African American Shakespeare Company, the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, and Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company to demonstrate how each organization articulates the cultural specificities, sociopolitical realities, and histories of African Americans. These companies have faced challenges that mirror the larger racial and economic disparities in arts funding and social practice in America, while their achievements exemplify such institutions’ vital role in enacting an artistic practice that reflects the cultural backgrounds of their local communities. Timely, significant, and deeply researched, this book spotlights the artistic and civic import of Black theaters in American cities. |
Other editions - View all
Black Theater, City Life: African American Art Institutions and Urban ... Macelle Mahala No preview available - 2022 |
Black Theater, City Life: African American Art Institutions and Urban ... Macelle Mahala No preview available - 2022 |
Common terms and phrases
AASC actors African American artists African American cultural African American theater artistic director arts ecology arts organizations Atlanta Black Theatre audience August Wilson Center Bay Area black arts movement black community black cultural black theater black theater companies Black Theatre Festival Broadway cast city’s Cleveland collaboration created dance directed drama example featured Ford-Taylor funding Gilpin Players Glasco Harlem Hughes's included Jackson Jones Karamu House Karamu Theatre Kenny Leon Kuntu Repertory Theatre Langston Hughes leadership Lillie Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Mark Clayton musical Negro neighborhood opera participated Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre play political Press professional programming racial Rampersad regional theaters residents Rob Penny role Rowena Jelliffe San Francisco Examiner season settlement house Shakespeare Shange Sias Silver Simmons Henson social stage stories telephone interview Terrence Spivey theatrical True Colors Theatre Tyler Perry urban Woodie King Jr York