As the first African American woman to have a play professionally produced in New York City (Gold Through the Trees, in 1952) and the first woman to win an Obie for Best Play (for Trouble in Mind, in 1956), Alice Childress occupies an important but surprisingly under-recognized place in American drama. . . . Read More

Theorizing Black Theatre: Art vs Protest in Critical Writings 1898 - 1965
By Henry Miller

Henry Miller brings the heart of a dramaturg over the role of Black Theatre--is it for the sake of building a set of aesthetically strong dramatic art . . . or for the sake of propagandizing a point of view? Read More

Say Word!
Voices from Hip Hop Theater
An Anthology Edited and with an Introduction by Daniel Banks

The phenomenon known as Hip Hop encompasses a global, multiethnic, grassroots culture committed to social justice and self-expression through performance. Hip Hop Theater emerged from that culture, mixing spoken-word performance with music and dance and marked by Hip Hop's strong sense of activism and resistance. . . Read More

Living with Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890-1930
 by Koritha Mitchell

Living with Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890–1930 demonstrates that popular lynching plays were mechanisms through which African American communities survived actual and photographic mob violence. Often available in periodicals, lynching plays were read aloud or acted out by black church members, schoolchildren, and families.e.. . . Read More