Talks at the Schomburg: The State of Black American Theatres

This past summer, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre (NBT) hosted Catalyst: Moving the Black Theatre Legacy Forward, the first national convening of its kind in the 21st century for 21 of America’s leading black theater institutions. Join panelists Shay Wafer (Executive Director, 651 ARTS), Sade Lythcott (CEO, National Black Theatre), Ebony Golden (Founding CEO and Principal Strategist, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, LLC) and Dafina McMillan (Director of Communications & Conferences, TCG) with moderator Jonathan McCrory (Director of Theatre Arts, National Black Theatre). The evening will be a postmortem discussion about the outcome of such a convening and the financial and structural crisis facing black theaters nationwide.

#CATALYSTNYC

Founded in Harlem in 1968 by visionary artist and entrepreneur, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, theNational Black Theatre [NBT] is the oldest Black Theatre in New York City and the first revenue-generating Black arts complex in the country. NBT is a cultural arts institution dedicated to producing transformational theatre & programs that help to shift and raise the consciousness of both artist and audience in its articulation of Black lifestyle.

Catalyst is an opportunity to bring the heat of the Black Theatre community together nationally and to have a serious, but transparent conversation about the issues and successes that Black Theatres face today. The main question to be addressed in this series is “How are we taking ownership of our own artistic destiny as opposed to being static artistic vessels continually waiting for the validation of “other” institutions to confirm our existence?”

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For all free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. All registered seats are released 15 to 30 minutes before start time, so we recommend that you arrive early.