Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Cambridge Companions to Theatre and Performance
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Slavery, Performance, and the Design of African American Theatre
- Chapter 2 Slave Rebellions on the National Stage
- Chapter 3 Early Black Americans on Broadway
- Chapter 4 Drama in the Harlem Renaissance
- Chapter 5 The Negro Little Theatre Movement
- Chapter 6 Black Women Dramatists, 1930–1960
- Chapter 7 Amiri Baraka and the Black Arts Movement
- Chapter 8 Fragmented Musicals and 1970s Soul Aesthetic
- Chapter 9 Spectacles of Whiteness from Adrienne Kennedy to Suzan-Lori Parks
- Chapter 10 African American Performance and Community Engagement
- Chapter 11 Women Playwrights Who Cross Cultural Borders
- Chapter 12 African Diaspora Drama
- Chapter 13 Black Theatre in the Age of Obama
- Chapter 14 Staging Black Lives Matter
- Chapter 15 Contemporary Black Queer Drama
- Chapter 16 African American Dance Theatre
- Index
Chapter 6 - Black Women Dramatists, 1930–1960
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 June 2023
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Cambridge Companions to Theatre and Performance
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Slavery, Performance, and the Design of African American Theatre
- Chapter 2 Slave Rebellions on the National Stage
- Chapter 3 Early Black Americans on Broadway
- Chapter 4 Drama in the Harlem Renaissance
- Chapter 5 The Negro Little Theatre Movement
- Chapter 6 Black Women Dramatists, 1930–1960
- Chapter 7 Amiri Baraka and the Black Arts Movement
- Chapter 8 Fragmented Musicals and 1970s Soul Aesthetic
- Chapter 9 Spectacles of Whiteness from Adrienne Kennedy to Suzan-Lori Parks
- Chapter 10 African American Performance and Community Engagement
- Chapter 11 Women Playwrights Who Cross Cultural Borders
- Chapter 12 African Diaspora Drama
- Chapter 13 Black Theatre in the Age of Obama
- Chapter 14 Staging Black Lives Matter
- Chapter 15 Contemporary Black Queer Drama
- Chapter 16 African American Dance Theatre
- Index
Summary
Adrienne Macki challenges critics who assert that the plays of Eulalie Spence, Alice Childress, and Lorraine Hansberry were either apolitical or not sufficiently political. In her chapter, Macki reintroduces the playwrights, who were active between 1930 and 1960, and chronicles the vital roles that they played in opening the doors for Black women to have their work staged regionally as well as on Broadway. Furthermore, she makes a convincing case that their plays feature “self-actualized black characters fighting against oppression and consumption while struggling to maintain racial and gender subjectivity.”
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- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre , pp. 119 - 137Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023