The Present State of Black Theatre

Abstract

During the I960s and '70s black theatre in America earned a reputation as one of the most controversial and dynamic movements in the world. Plays by black dramatists boldly portrayed black life in relation to oppressive political and social institutions in the United States. Blacks founded hundreds of theatre groups which produced plays by at least 200 dramatists. Widespread interest led to a proliferation of black theatre articles, dissertations, and scholarly books. In the I98os there appears to be no consensus in the assessment of the development of black theatre since the '6os. A 1987 survey of black theatre artists and scholars revealed opinion to be almost equally divided as to whether black theatre has progressed, regressed, or stagnated.1 Black theatre groups can still be found in major cities across the country, but less than a third survive of those existing during the prior two decades. Most scholars and theatre artists would have difficulty naming recent productions of plays by some of the most renowned black dramatists of the '6os. Although Charles Fuller, August Wilson, and George C. Wolfe currently enjoy national acclaim, few other black playwrights have such reputations. Despite all this, I am one black woman who is not ready to bemoan the current state of the black theatre and write its obituary. The black theatre has found ways to continue to function during these times marked by conservative political and social policies. The black theatre exists because it learned lessons of survival from the '6os and '70s. The institution is a vital part of our culture and expresses who we were, are, and will be. Changes in the black theatre since the '6os must be viewed in the context of changes in the political and social conditions in America. Historian Lerone Bennett, Jr., called 1963 the first year of the Black Revolution (I982:386). After nearly 300 years of protest and oo00 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, most black Americans still found themselves without the same civil rights and standard of living enjoyed by whites. During I963/64 the nation experienced more than I0,000 demonstrations against discrimination in employment, education, housing, and the use of public facilities. White racists injured and murdered blacks and their white sympathizers. Militant segregationists did not exempt black children or churches from their wrath. In one of the most hideous incidents of the period, a bomb thrown into the basement of a Birmingham, Alabama church killed 4 girls and injured 21 other people. The governors of Ala-