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Friday, February 09, 2018
10 Contemporary Black Playwrights You Should Know
ArtsBoston: In honor of Black History Month, we are celebrating black excellence by highlighting some of the very best black artists producing and creating work today. This week we’re focusing on 10 contemporary black playwrights you should know
3 comments:
Marisa Rinchiuso
said...
I love articles that expose me to new work. I don't read plays, outside of classes, too often, but I am almost never know what to read. Articles like this are so great because they give great exposure to amazing new work. I was unfamiliar with all of these playwrights and most of the plays mentioned, but I feel like I definitely have a good idea of what to put on my reading list next. The first playwright mentioned, Braden Jacobs-Jenkins's show, Octoroon is the first show of Chautauqua Theatre Festival's summer season. One of the most interesting playwrights to me was Adrianne Kennedy. With her first big show in 1964 and a new play this year, her writing perspective must encapsulate so much history and depth. I love people who never stop doing what they are passionate about. Her work is incredibly admirable and inspiring. In total, this article was really insightful for new work novices seeking shows outside the usual classics.
This article makes me really happy because when I was in school as an actor I was lead to believe that the end all and be all of black theatre was August Wilson. Occasionally we would mention Lorraine Hansberry. The first play I ever saw by a black playwright focused on the story of the popular novel Native Son. It felt so much more full than any representation of black people that I had ever seen because it recognized a lot of the nuances that were ignored when white people wrote black characters. I am constantly looking for work by black playwrights now and, because I go to many shows written by playwrights in Chicago, those are the black playwrights I know. This list definitely gave me some more names that I should know of people doing the work all over the country. I am also very glad that so much of the list was black femme people because I think those voices get drowned out in the popular cisgender heterosexual black male narrative. This list will definitely be a jumping off point for me as I try to learn more about artists that are doing the work of memorializing the black experience.
These black women and men make me so happy. To know that even though I don’t see much of the work for the black community, it is happening and it is being recognized within the theatre worlds. I want to know and work with these artist and their stories. I just with we were taking these works on in the education system. Where better to start the healing process in theatre than in the education. We need more black works performed and studied at colleges and even high school. It is sad that we only here about stories like this, one month out of the year, but it is even sadder that even during black history month, at least here at CMU, we did not even talk about the current state of black culture in the theatre community. Not one black artist, designer, write, or producer was mentioned or celebrated at the school. I know I was left to celebrate in solitude with a few of the member of the cmu theatre black community. This article is such a good example that there is no excuse for not having more artist celebrated and remembered in black history month.
3 comments:
I love articles that expose me to new work. I don't read plays, outside of classes, too often, but I am almost never know what to read. Articles like this are so great because they give great exposure to amazing new work. I was unfamiliar with all of these playwrights and most of the plays mentioned, but I feel like I definitely have a good idea of what to put on my reading list next. The first playwright mentioned, Braden Jacobs-Jenkins's show, Octoroon is the first show of Chautauqua Theatre Festival's summer season. One of the most interesting playwrights to me was Adrianne Kennedy. With her first big show in 1964 and a new play this year, her writing perspective must encapsulate so much history and depth. I love people who never stop doing what they are passionate about. Her work is incredibly admirable and inspiring. In total, this article was really insightful for new work novices seeking shows outside the usual classics.
This article makes me really happy because when I was in school as an actor I was lead to believe that the end all and be all of black theatre was August Wilson. Occasionally we would mention Lorraine Hansberry. The first play I ever saw by a black playwright focused on the story of the popular novel Native Son. It felt so much more full than any representation of black people that I had ever seen because it recognized a lot of the nuances that were ignored when white people wrote black characters.
I am constantly looking for work by black playwrights now and, because I go to many shows written by playwrights in Chicago, those are the black playwrights I know. This list definitely gave me some more names that I should know of people doing the work all over the country. I am also very glad that so much of the list was black femme people because I think those voices get drowned out in the popular cisgender heterosexual black male narrative. This list will definitely be a jumping off point for me as I try to learn more about artists that are doing the work of memorializing the black experience.
These black women and men make me so happy. To know that even though I don’t see much of the work for the black community, it is happening and it is being recognized within the theatre worlds. I want to know and work with these artist and their stories. I just with we were taking these works on in the education system. Where better to start the healing process in theatre than in the education. We need more black works performed and studied at colleges and even high school. It is sad that we only here about stories like this, one month out of the year, but it is even sadder that even during black history month, at least here at CMU, we did not even talk about the current state of black culture in the theatre community. Not one black artist, designer, write, or producer was mentioned or celebrated at the school. I know I was left to celebrate in solitude with a few of the member of the cmu theatre black community. This article is such a good example that there is no excuse for not having more artist celebrated and remembered in black history month.
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