Milestones in Black American Theatre and Performance is a groundbreaking collection of essays highlighting the historical achievements and contemporary relevance of Black theatre artists and Black theatre institutions in the United States. Designed for weekly use on theatre history courses, each chapter focuses on a significant event or marker that recognizes the institutions and the artistic productions of Black artists and cultural producers. In combination, these milestones situate Black theatre and performance as an ancient art form of cultural expression, within a 200 year history of professional theatre that is constantly in conversation with its histories and contemporary influences in spite of the racial disparities that have plagued American theatre and society. Milestones are a range of accessible textbooks, breaking down the need-to-know moments in the social, cultural, political and artistic development of foundational subject areas. This book is ideal for undergraduate theatre history courses that focus on the inestimable contribution of Black performance to the cultural landscape of the United States.
Monica White Ndounou (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor at Dartmouth College, USA, and serves as Founder and Executive Director of The CRAFT Institute.Eve Graves (Ph.D.) is a Professor and the Chairperson of Department of Theatre and Communication Studies at Clark Atlanta University, USA.
1. Brief Overview of Black American Theatre and Performance 2. Black Classical Performance in the Nineteenth Century 3. Spectacles and Chlorines: Black Women on Stage 4. Hidden Gems: A History of Black Designers in the American Theatre 5. For 21st Century Students Resisting “Instafame”: Know Your Ancestors and Use Your Platforms 6. Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance: Black Dramatizations of Black Joy and Trauma as Inspiration for the 21st Century 7. Putting all the Black Back in the Wiz 8. Curated Community Conversation: Southern Black Theatre 9. Curated Community Conversation: Changemakers and Black Theatre Education 10. Curated Community Conversation: Black Arts and Black Theatre Training