Black Theatre

The rich tradition and current state of Black Theatre is explored in this content, including discussions analyzing contemporary work and pieces honoring trailblazers. Consider starting with the Daughters of Lorraine podcast, the Journal series on the state of Black theatre, or the Journal series on Black women in the performing arts.

The Latest

The New Black Fest

Video

The New Black Fest

A festival curated by Keith Josef Adkins on Unapologetic Humanity and Unapologetic Accountability at the Segal Center

Monday 22 April 2024

New York

The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney

Podcast

The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney

by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley, Tarell Alvin McCraney

6 March 2024

Opening the Channel with Masi Asare

Podcast

Opening the Channel with Masi Asare

by Masi Asare, Leticia Ridley, Jordan Ealey

28 February 2024

Using Critical Fabulation for History-Based Playwriting

Essay

Using Critical Fabulation for History-Based Playwriting

3 March 2021

Holly Derr and Calley N. Anderson sit down to talk about how Calley adopted historian Saidiya Hartman’s theory of critical fabulation when writing her new play The Story and the Teller about the effect of the Memphis yellow fever epidemic of 1878 on African Americans and immigrants.

a black rectangle with the text: Antoine hunter presents: #DeafWoke

#DeafWoke with with Michelle Banks

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

#DeafWoke with with Michelle Banks

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 25 February 2021

United States

Antoine Hunter presented #DeafWoke with Michelle Banks livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 25 February at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Black Spatial Relics

Black Spatial Relics

Video

Black Spatial Relics

Celebrating and learning from the centuries-long Black freedom dialectic between the Caribbean and Philadelphia

Tuesday 23 February to Saturday 27 February 2021

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Black Spatial Relics presented their second annual convening livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Tuesday 23 February to Saturday 27 February 2021.

One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia

Dr. Ayshia

Mackie-Stephenson

Video

One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia

One Love pedagogy, a racial justice method for teaching and learning theatre

Monday 22 February 2021

United States

Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson presented One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 22 February 2021 at 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

#DeafWoke with Ashlea Hayes

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

#DeafWoke with Ashlea Hayes

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 18 February 2021

United States

Antoine Hunter presented #DeafWoke with Ashlea Hayes livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 18 February at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5). Guest to be announced.

One Day We’ll Realize Our Shoulders Aren’t Raised to Our Ears

Nia

Farrell

Essay

One Day We’ll Realize Our Shoulders Aren’t Raised to Our Ears

Mad Libs for a Culture Shift

17 February 2021

Nia Farrell shares her vision of the future—one that exists now, on this very Earth, and that begins with the declaration: “I am adamant that Blk people exist in the future.”

#DeafWoke with Warren “Wawa” Snipe

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

#DeafWoke with Warren “Wawa” Snipe

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 11 February 2021

United States

Antoine Hunter presented #DeafWoke with Warren “Wawa” Snipe livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 11 February at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5). Guest to be announced.

episode five claudia alick calling up justice

Claudia Alick and Calling Up Justice

Podcast

Claudia Alick and Calling Up Justice

Building Our Own Tables Episode #5

27 January 2021

During this episode of Building Our Own Tables, podcast host Yura Sapi talks with Claudia Alick, founding executive producer of the transmedia social justice company Calling Up Justice.

#DeafWoke with Jubil Khan

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

#DeafWoke with Jubil Khan

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 21 January 2021

United States

Antoine Hunter presented #DeafWoke with Jubil Khan livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 21 January at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Nydia Simone and Blactina

Podcast

Nydia Simone and Blactina

Building Our Own Table Episode #4

20 January 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables Podcast, host Viviana Vargas discusses amplifying Afrolatinx and Caribbean stories with an emphasis on women through media and entertainment with Blactina founder Nydia Simone.

Sometimes the Best Technology is Relationships

Essay

Sometimes the Best Technology is Relationships

A Conversation with Complex Movements

15 January 2021

In the last conversation of the Performing the Internet series, curator Kate Bergstrom sits down with three members of the Detroit-based artist-activist collective Complex Movements—Sage Crump, ill weaver, Wes Taylor—to talk about intentional engagement in a virtual world.

Lauren E. Turner and No Dream Deferred

Podcast

Lauren E. Turner and No Dream Deferred

Building Our Own Tables Episode #2

16 December 2020

In the second episode of Build Our Own Tables podcast, host Viviana Vargas interviews Lauren E. Turner of No Dream Deferred, a community anchored theatre production company in New Orleans, Louisiana. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.

Claiming Our Space with Hana Sharif

Podcast

Claiming Our Space with Hana Sharif

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Season 2 Episode 6

25 November 2020

For the last episode of season two of the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, hosts Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley talk with Hana S. Sharif about her journey to becoming one of the first Black women to be artistic director of a regional theatre, managing in a pandemic, her thoughts on the current state of American theatre, and more.

DeafWoke with Janeshia Adams-Ginyard

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

DeafWoke with Janeshia Adams-Ginyard

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 19 November 2020

United States

Antoine Hunter presented DeafWoke with Janeshia Adams-Ginyard livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 19 November at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

black and white photo of four actors onstage

When Form Meets Content

Podcast

When Form Meets Content

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Season 2 Episode 5

18 November 2020

In this episode, Daughters of Lorraine Podcast hosts Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley discuss how Black playwrights, such as Adrienne Kennedy, Tarrell Alvin McCraney, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Ntozake Shange, have experimented with form.

Antoine Hunter Presents #DeafWoke with Def Lens Media

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

Antoine Hunter Presents #DeafWoke with Def Lens Media

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 5 October 2020

United States

Antoine Hunter Presented #DeafWoke with Def Lens Media livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 5 November at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Call and Response: A Black Lives Matter Q&A for Young People [ASL and Live Captions]

ArtsEmerson

Video

Call and Response: A Black Lives Matter Q&A for Young People [ASL and Live Captions]

Featuring Toshi Reagon, Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson and many more...

Friday 30 October 2020

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

ArtsEmerson presented Call and Response: A Black Lives Matter Q&A for Young People featuring Toshi Reagon, Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson and many more... livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 30 October 2020 at 3:30 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 5:30 p.m. (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 10:30 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0).

#DeafWoke with Rodney Burford

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

#DeafWoke with Rodney Burford

A virtual consciousness-raising online talk show, led by Black and Native American Deaf host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Thursday 29 October 2020

United States

Antoine Hunter presented #DeafWoke with Rodney Burford livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 29 October at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

"Unbought & Unbossed"

National Black Theatre

Video

"Unbought & Unbossed"

Part Three: To Be UNBOSSED ft. Hope Boykin, Dianne Smith, and Dane Figueroa Edidi

Thursday 29 October 2020

United States

NBT @ HOME presented an "Unbought & Unbossed" Conversation livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 29 October at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Photo of three conversation participants, with the event title and producers listed.

On Radical Imagination and The Black Feminine Divine

Crowded Fire

Campo Santo

Video

On Radical Imagination and The Black Feminine Divine

With Star Finch, Ellen Sebastian Chang, and Lisa Marie Rollins, presented by Crowded Fire and Campo Santo.

Tuesday 27 October 2020

United States

Crowded Fire and Campo Santo presented the conversation On Radical Imagination & The Black Feminine Divine livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 27 October 2020 at 2 p.m. HST (UTC -9) / 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

American Theatre's Racial Reckoning with The Black Artist Coalition

Podcast

American Theatre's Racial Reckoning with The Black Artist Coalition

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Season 2 Episode 4

28 October 2020

The Daughters of Lorraine Podcast hosts Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley discuss the advent of We See You, White American Theatre and situate it within a history of Black theatre artists calling out the white supremacy endemic to American theatre, as well as interviewing The Black Artist Coalition founders Vaughn Midder and Kevin McAllister.

The Afro-Existential Podcast’s Virtual Event: Creating Art in the Time of Corona

The Afro-Existential Podcast

Video

The Afro-Existential Podcast’s Virtual Event: Creating Art in the Time of Corona

Featuring audio-play productions and guest interviews on afro-existential themes

Saturday 17 October 2020

United States

The Afro-Existential Podcast, part of the Broadway Podcast Network, presented Creating Art in the Time of Corona livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 17 September 2020 at 6:00 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9:00 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

artist headshots with text details about the event.

"Unbought & Unbossed"

National Black Theatre

Video

"Unbought & Unbossed"

Part Two: Issues Facing Black Women's Lives and Liberation Today featuring Stephanie Young, Rhonda Ross, and DeRay Mckesson

Thursday 15 October 2020

United States

NBT @ HOME presented an "Unbought & Unbossed" Conversation livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 15 October at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Black Directors Roundtable

Art2Action

Pangea

Video

Black Directors Roundtable

Centering the voices of Black leaders in theatre with the National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation

Thursday 8 October 2020

United States

The National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation presented a Black Directors Roundtable livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 October 2020 at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

SEGAL TALKS with Sade Lythcott (NYC)

Segal

Center

Video

SEGAL TALKS with Sade Lythcott (NYC)

Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona

Thursday 8 October 2020

United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented Segal Talks with Sade Lythcott (NYC) livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 October 2020 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).