African American Theatre
C.
3.
b.
on your printed notes
1) Early 1900s, musical reviews and light
musical comedies featuring African
American casts capitalize on American love
of minstrel shows
Shuffle Along by Noble Sissel & Eubie Blake
(pictured left), Flournoy Miller, and Aubrey
Lyles, opened on Broadway in 1921.
Featuring jazz dancing and ragtime music, it
was the first musical written and performed by
African Americans to play in white theatres.
Josephine Baker, whose
first major performance
was in the chorus line for
Shuffle Along, performed
a Topsy incarnation in
the 1924 musical The
Chocolate Dandies.
Note that she is wearing
black face and clown
shoes.
Frustrated with the roles she
was allowed to play, Josephine
Baker moved to France, where
she was considered exotic, and
had a fabulous career there.
2) Take a Giant Step, by Louis Peterson, 1953,
first serious play by African American to move
to Broadway
It introduced Louis Gossett,
Jr., as the teenaged lead.
Here is a more mature Gossett:
3) A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry,
1959, first play by African American female
on Broadway
A Raisin in the Sun was directed by Lloyd Richards, who would
later direct and help to shape the early works of August Wilson.
Unfortunately for
American theatre,
Lorraine Hansberry
died very soon after
A Raisin in the Sun,
completing only one
additional play.
A Raisin in the Sun was revived on Broadway in 2004,
with Sean Combs in the role of Walter.
Philicia Rashad was awarded the Tony
for Best Actress, the first time an
African American woman was so
honored.
. . . And Audra McDonald was
awarded the Tony for Best
Featured Actress.
The Broadway cast was
reunited for an ABC movie of
A Raisin in the Sun.
4) Revolutionary theatre in 1960s & 1970s:
Amiri Baraka (AKA LeRoi Jones),
The Dutchman, The Toilet, etc.;
. . . Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls Who Have
Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf (1976)
5) Musicals with all or virtually all African American casts in
1970s: Purlie (1970);
Purlie was based on a stage play
written by Ossie Davis, seen here
with wife Ruby Dee in the
Broadway production of Purlie
Victorious.
. . . The Wiz (1974);
The Wiz was revived on Broadway for a
short run in the summer of 2009 with
Ashanti in the role of Dorothy.
. . . Bubblin’ Brown Sugar (1976);
. . . and Your Arms Too Short to Box with
God (1976)
6) Since 1980s, August Wilson (d. 2005) most frequently
produced African American playwright
- Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and The Piano
Lesson (1990)
- Plays chronicle African American experience in 20th
century by decade
Gem of the Ocean [set in 1904]
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone [set in1911]
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom [set in 1927]
The Piano Lesson [set in 1936]
Seven Guitars [set in 1948]
Fences
[set in 1957-1963]
(Los Angeles
production with
Lawrence Fishburne)
Asheville High graduate Chris Chalk played the son, Cory, in the 2010
Broadway revival of Fences. He is pictured here with Viola Davis and
Denzel Washington.
Two Trains Running
[set in 1969]
Jitney
[set in 1977]
King Hedley II
[set in mid-1980s]
Radio Golf
[set in 1997]
Entire cycle of August Wilson plays,
alternately called the Pittsburgh Cycle or
20th Century Cycle.
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Gem of the Ocean (1904)
Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1911)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1927)
The Piano Lesson (1936)
Seven Guitars (1948)
Fences (1957-63)
Two Trains Running (1967)
Jitney (1977)
King Hedley II (mid-1980s)
Radio Golf (1997)
7) Since late 1990s Tyler Perry has tremendous success
with pop culture plays satirizing racial stereotypes,
imbedded religious/social messages
8) Introspective plays currently being written by black
women, among them Suzan-Lori Parks, Pearl
Cleage, Dael Orlandersmith, and Lynn Nottage.
(see Female Playwrights)
Suzan-Lori Parks
• The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole World
• Topdog/Underdog
(2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
• The America Play
• 365 Plays
Pearl Cleage
• Flyin’ West
• Blues for an Alabama Sky
Ms. Cleage, who lives in
Atlanta, is also the author of
What Looks Like Crazy on an
Ordinary Day, an Oprah Book
Club selection in 1998 that
appeared on the New York
Times best-seller list for nine
weeks.
Dael Orlandersmith
• Yellowman
• The Gimmick
(2002 Pulitzer
Prize for Drama
finalist)
Lynn Nottage
•A Stone’s Throw
•Fabulation
•Intimate Apparel
•Las Meninas
•Mud, River, Stone
•Crumbs from the Table of Joy
•Ruined
(2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
Lynn Nottage with members of the Ruined cast and producers. AHS graduate
Chris Chalk was in the Off-Broadway cast and is pictured on the lower right.