Download or read book Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers written by Bernard L. Peterson Jr. and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1990 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peterson has done a great service to students of African-American theater. . . . Peterson's scholarship is impressive; the book's format is inviting . . . an indispensable reference book for academic libraries. Choice This reference volume addresses an often overlooked area in the history of the American theatre, the contributions of early black playwrights and dramatic writers. At a time when they were denied full participation in many aspects of American life, including the mainstream of the theatre itself, black artists were compiling an impressive record of achievement on the American stage. This book, the most comprehensive on the subject, provides a complete look at these achievements by offering biographical information and a catalog of works for approximately 200 writers, including playwrights, librettists, screenwriters, and radio scriptwriters. From the emergence of black playwrights in the time prior to the Civil War, to the early days of film and radio in this century, the efforts of early black writers are fully documented in this work. The book begins with an author's preface and is followed by an introductory essay that discusses the development of black American playwrights from the antebellum period to World War II. The heart of the book, the biographical directory, is organized alphabetically, with each entry providing highlights of the author's life and career; collected anthologies that include any works; and an annotated chronological list of individual dramatic works, including genre, length, synopses, production history, prizes and awards, and script sources. Three appendixes offer information on other playwrights and their works, additional librettists and descriptions of their shows, and a chronology of dramatic works by genre. A bibliography cites such information sources as reference books and critical studies, dissertations, play anthologies, and newspapers and periodicals frequently consulted, as well as significant libraries and repositories. The book concludes with title and general indexes and an index to early black theatre organizations. This work will be an important reference source for courses in black American drama and theatre history, and a valuable addition to both public and academic libraries.

Download or read book Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays written by Bernard L. Peterson Jr. and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1988-05-17 with total page 660 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work provides a wealth of information on obscure and overlooked American playwrights as well as some famous ones; it will be a welcome addition for collections specializing in the theater arts. Reference Books Bulletin This directory and index, the first such volume devoted exclusively to contemporary black American dramatists, will have an important place in theatre collections. It captures and preserves an elusive part of artistic endeavor, giving access to literally thousands of dramatic works that would otherwise be lost to scholars and the public. Organized as an encyclopedia, it provides information on more than 600 noteworthy Black American playwrights whose plays have been written, produced, or published between 1950 and the present. The volume begins with an introductory essay surveying the history of contemporary black American drama. Playwrights, screenwriters, radio and television scriptwriters, and musical theatre collaborators are treated in individual entries that comprise the bulk of the book. The volume also supplies a bibliography of anthologies, books, and periodicals cited; mailing addresses for more than 200 of the playwrights; and title and subject indexes.

Download or read book The Roots of African American Drama written by James V. Hatch and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 1992-04-01 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume rescues from obscurity thirteen plays by early African American writers.

Download or read book Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People 1816 1960 written by Bernard L. Peterson Jr. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-10-30 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This directory includes over 500 African American performers and theater people who have made a significant contribution to the American stage from the early 19th century to the beginning of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Entries provide succinct biographical and theatrical information gathered from a variety of sources including library theater and drama collections, dissertations and theses, newspaper and magazine reviews and criticism, theater programs, theatrical memoirs, and earlier performing arts directories. Among the professional artists included in this volume are performers, librettists, lyricists, directors, producers, choreographers, stage managers, and musicians. The individuals profiled represent almost every major category and genre of the professional, semiprofessional, regional, and academic stage including minstrelsy, vaudeville, musical theater, and drama. Persons of historical significance are included as well as those stars and theatrical personalities that were well known during their time but who are relatively forgotten today. This comprehensive volume will appeal to theater and musical theater, Black studies, and American studies scholars. Cross-referenced throughout, this reference also includes an extensive bibliography and appendices of other theater personalities excluded from the main text. Separate indexes list the personalities, teams and partnerships, and performing groups, organizations, and companies.

Download or read book Their Place on the Stage written by Eliz Brown Guillory and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1988-11-10 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study begins with a brief discussion of the African origins of African American theater, and then moves into an analysis of the many women playwrights of the Harlem Renaissance. In the third chapter the focus narrows down to the three playwrights who constitute the core of the study: Lorraine Hansberry, Alice Childress, and Ntozake Shange. In addition to a discussion of each of their major plays, Brown-Guillory analyzes the tonal and structural forms of their plays and the image of blacks each woman creates. The three playwrights are linked in this study by their portrayal of the black struggle in an inhumane society and by their common focus on the "spirit of survival" of African Americans. ISBN 0-313-25985-2: $37.95.

Download or read book Willis Richardson Forgotten Pioneer of African American Drama written by Christine R. Gray and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1999-12-30 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the 1920s and 1930s, Willis Richardson (1889-1977) was highly respected as a leading African-American playwright and drama anthologist. His plays were performed by numerous black high school, college, and university drama groups and by theater companies in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Baltimore, and Atlanta. With the opening of The Chip Woman's Fortune (1923), he became the first African American to have a play produced on Broadway. Several of his 46 plays were published in assorted magazines, and in his essays, he urged black Americans to seek their dramatic material in their own lives and circumstances. In addition, he edited three anthologies of plays by African-Americans. But between 1940 and his death in 1977, Richardson came to realize that his plays were period pieces and that they no longer reflected the problems and situations of African-Americans. In the years before his death, he attempted vigorously yet unsuccessfully to preserve several of his plays through publication, if not production. But the man who has been called the father of African-American drama and who was considered the hope and promise of African-American drama died in obscurity. Richardson has even been neglected by the scholarly community. This critical biography, the first extensive consideration of his life and work, firmly reestablishes his pioneering role in American theater. The book begins with a detailed chronology, followed by a thoughtful biographical essay. The volume then examines the nature of African-American drama in the 1920s, the period during which Richardson was most productive, and it analyzes his approach to drama as a means of educating African-American audiences. It then explores the African-American community as the central theme in Richardson's plays, for Richardson typically looks at the consequences of refusals by blacks to help one another. The work additionally considers Richardson's history plays, his anthologies, his dramas intended for black children, and his essays. A concluding chapter summarizes his lasting influence; the book closes with a listing of his plays and an extensive bibliography.

Download or read book Black Female Playwrights written by Kathy A. Perkins and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1990-10-22 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Fine reading and a superb resource." -- Ms. "Highly recommended." -- Library Journal "Perkins has chosen the plays well, and her issue-oriented introduction places the women and their works in a literary and historical context." -- Choice "As well as being centered on the black experience, the plays in Black Female Playwrights are centered on the female experience." -- Voice Literary Supplement "Perkins' anthology is valuable for a number of reasons... Perkins' book (which includes a bibliography of plays and pageants by black women before 1950 as well as a selected bibliography of critical works) is a major help in providing access to [the world of black drama]." -- Theatre Journal The need to acknowledge these works was the impetus behind this volume. Perkins has selected nineteen plays from seven writers who were among the major dramatizers of the black experience during this early period. As forerunners to the activist black theater of the 1950s and 1960s, these plays represent a critical stage in the development of black drama in the United States.

Download or read book Contemporary African American Female Playwrights written by Dana A. Williams and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1998-06-30 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was a major dramatic success and brought to the world's attention the potential talent of African American women playwrights. But in spite of Hansberry's landmark contribution, both the theater and the literary world have often failed to include contemporary African American female playwrights within the circle of production, publication, and criticism. In African American drama anthologies, female playwrights are seldom given the degree of attention that is accorded their male counterparts. And because of space constraints, anthologies of works by women playwrights are forced to exclude numerous female dramatists, including African Americans. Meanwhile, some scholars have argued that the works of African American female playwrights are seldom produced in the mainstream theater because these plays frequently challenge the views of white America. But as A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates, plays by African American women dramatists can have a powerful message and are worthy of attention. A comprehensive research tool, this annotated bibliography sheds light on the often neglected works of contemporary African American female playwrights. Included within its scope are those dramatists who have had at least one work published since 1959, the year of Hansberry's monumental achievement. The first section provides a listing of anthologies that include one or more plays written by an African American female dramatist. The second gives entries for reference works and for scholarly and critical studies of the dramatists and their plays. The third presents a listing of published plays by individual dramatists, along with a summary of each drama; the works of each playwright that are related to drama; and secondary sources that treat the dramatists and their plays. Entries are accompanied by concise but informative annotations, and the volume closes with a list of periodicals that frequently publish criticism of African American female playwrights, a section of brief biographical sketches of the dramatists, and extensive indexes.

Download or read book Contemporary African American Women Playwrights written by Philip C. Kolin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-11-07 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last 50 years, American and World theatre have been challenged and enriched by the rise to prominence of numerous female African American dramatists. Contemporary African American Women Playwrights is the first critical volume to explore the contexts and influences of these writers, and their exploration of black history and identity through a wealth of diverse, courageous and visionary dramas.

Download or read book A Century of Musicals in Black and White written by Bernard L. Peterson Jr. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1993-10-25 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive reference book provides succinct information on almost thirteen hundred musical stage works written and produced from the 1870s to the 1990s involving contributions by black librettists, lyricists, composers, musicians, producers, or performers or containing thematic materials relevant to the black experience. Organized alphabetically, they include tent and outdoor shows, vaudeville, operas and operettas, comedies, farces, spectacles, revues, cabaret and nightclub shows, children's musicals, skits, one-act musicals, one-person shows, and even a musical without songs. In addition to the hundreds of shows independently created, produced, and performed by black writers and theatrical artists, it presents hundreds more representing a collaboration of black and white talents. An appendix organizes the shows chronologically and highlights those that were most significant in the history of the black American musical stage. An extensive bibliography and indexes of names, songs, and subjects complete the work.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of American Drama written by Jackson R. Bryer and published by Infobase Learning. This book was released on 2015-04-22 with total page 2466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a comprehensive guide to American dramatic literature, from its origins in the early days of the nation to American classics such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Thornton Wilder's Our Town to the groundbreaking works of today's best writers.

Download or read book Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People 1816 1960 written by Bernard L. Peterson Jr. and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Entries provide succinct biographical and theatrical information gathered from a variety of sources including library theater and drama collections, dissertations and theses, newspaper and magazine reviews and criticism, theater programs, theatrical memoirs, and earlier performing arts directories. Among the professional artists included in this volume are performers, librettists, lyricists, directors, producers, choreographers, stage managers, and musicians. The individuals profiled represent almost every major category and genre of the professional, semiprofessional, regional, and academic stage including minstrelsy, vaudeville, musical theater, and drama.

Download or read book Negro Poetry and Drama written by Sterling a Brown and published by Westphalia Press. This book was released on 2014-10-22 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commissioned by the great Alain Locke and edited by Sterling A. Brown, Negro Poetry and Drama was an essential tool in the African American adult education movement during the early twentieth century. The fight for civil rights was accompanied by a move to educate African Americans who were forcibly ignorant to the histories and contributions of those before them. By showcasing the various works and biographies of black writers, poets, playwrights, and dramatists, Negro Poetry uncovers and celebrates voices of the past, offering unique stories which had previously been marginalized or otherwise ignored within the American canon. Complete with the original discussion questions at the end of each chapter, this edition of Negro Poetry gives us a glimpse of the steps African Americans took to re-educate and reclaim their narratives in the fight towards equality. Whitney Shepard has a background in English and African American Studies, with an interest in critical race theory and social justice. She is currently the Director of Development and Programs at the Policy Studies Organization in Washington DC.

Download or read book Stage Black written by Lydia R. Diamond and published by Dramatic Pub.. This book was released on 2008 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Black Women Playwrights written by Carol P. Marsh-Lockett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of critical essays on plays by African American female playwrights from the post-reconstruction period to the present provides thematic analyses of plays by major and less widely known African American women playwrights The contributors examine the plays as vehicles of public discourse, and as explorations of issues of African American identity. Essays explore the themes of sexuality, agency, anger, and self-concept in the plays of African American Women.

Download or read book The Methuen Drama Book of Post Black Plays written by Eisa Davis and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Post-black' refers to an emerging trend within black arts to find new and multiple expressions of blackness, unburdened by the social and cultural expectations of blackness of the past and moving beyond the conventional binary of black and white. Reflecting this multiplicity of perspectives, the plays in this collection explode the traditional ways of representing black families on the American stage, and create new means to consider the interplay of race, with questions of class, gender, and sexuality. They engage and critique current definitions of black and African-American identity, as well as previous limitations placed on what constitutes blackness and black theatre. Written by the emerging stars of American theatre such as Eisa Davis and Marcus Gardley, the plays explore themes as varied as family and individuality, alienation and gentrification, and reconciliation and belonging. They demonstrate a wide-range of formal and structural innovations for the American theatre, and reflect the important ways in which contemporary playwrights are expanding the American dramatic canon with new and diverse means of representation. Edited by two leading US scholars in black drama, Harry J. Elam Jr (Stanford) and Douglas A. Jones Jr (Princeton), this cutting edge anthology gathers together some of the most exciting new American plays, selected by a rigorous academic backbone and explored in depth by supporting critical material.

Download or read book The Dramatic Genius of Charles Fuller An African American Playwright written by Molefi Kete Asante and published by . This book was released on 2015-01-16 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BOOK OVERVIEW Charles Fuller is a pre-eminent American dramatist. The Dramatic Genius of Charles Fuller is an accessible and appropriate introduction to the mind of Fuller for those who know his work and those who do not. For an author who did not set out to be a Pulitzer Prize winner but rather one who would use every dimension of his multifaceted life to dramatize the narratives of African American people he has succeeded in being an influential voice in the dramatic arena. Few critics have examined Fuller seriously and in some ways his work, like that of other black writers, has fallen outside the gaze of contemporary literary and dramatic writers even though he has received some of the highest awards in the nation. Part of this is because few African American dramatists have been looked at critically or studied in classrooms or spoken of in terms of their philosophy, style, originality, and brilliance. This book brings a critical reading and sympathetic location of Fuller's drama in the center of African American dramatic and social history Anyone who teaches drama or who performs or produces African American drama should use this book as a supplemental reading for theater and literary classes at the undergraduate level. Serious scholars of the philosophy of African American drama can use the book at the graduate level. In Theater, English or African American Studies the book is sure to be used in the classes on African American Drama or Theater, Black Writers, and The History of American Drama. Charles H. Fuller, Jr., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 5, l939. He was educated at Roman Catholic High School and Villanova University. In l959 he joined the United States Army and served in Japan and Korea. When he completed his service in the army he went to LaSalle University in l965-1967 where he received a DFA. During l967 he co-founded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia. In the late l960s he teamed with Larry Neal as Philadelphia's dynamic duo in the arts. No one was more intellectually involved with the early thinking and writing of Larry Neal than Charles Fuller. Their interactive relationship from the time that stole away as teenagers to hear Ralph Ellison to the death of Neal was the foundation for much of what Fuller developed as his thesis about human beings. Although he found many of his characters on Broad Street in Philadelphia he was already a mature revolutionary thinker when he moved to New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Fuller's travels, including his major tour of the Soviet Union, must be seen as a part of his aesthetic, ethical, social, and literary influences. In the strictest sense of the word Charles Fuller is an intellectual, not merely someone who writes, but someone who reflects on the entire process of bringing into existence new ideas. Thinking outside of the box could have been invented by him because his parents taught him that things are not always as they seem. He knew this from his early childhood and became involved in the drama of ordinary lives from listening to the provocative conversations that took place in his house when he was still a young man. This book is an attempt to understand how this prize-winning writer articulates what he sees in human nature.