Introducing the African American Theater Research Guide

By A.J. Muhammad, Librarian III
January 30, 2019
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Shuffle Along

Eubie Blake and the chorus  of the 1933 revival of "Shuffle Along"; Photograph by White Studio; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 5242831

For the first time in a generation, the current theater season in New York City is offering a smorgasbord of productions written and directed by theater artists from the African diaspora. Playwright Donja R. Love (who participated in the Schomburg Center’s "Theater Talk" series in spring 2018, with a livestream of the conversation here) compiled a list of the dozens of 2018-2019 productions by writers of African descent. The list has since gone viral.
Many have expressed their excitement at this historic moment and are celebrating the breakthrough of a cohort of black playwrights, some of whom have plays that mark their Off-Broadway debuts. The season also includes a mix of premieres and revivals of works by established African American women playwrights Dominique Morisseau, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lydia Diamond, and Anna Deveare Smith.

Black Theater Winter Preview

On Monday, January 28, the Schomburg Center presented its first Theater Talks program of 2019, "Black Theater Winter Preview." Held in collaboration with Walk Tall Girl Productions/Black Theater Online and New York City Black Theater Network, the program included an evening of conversations about, and performance excerpts from, the upcoming slate of black-themed productions from the second half of the historic 2018-2019 theater season.  Not only did black theater artists—including playwrights and directors—appear in the program, but participants and attendees were also asked to ponder the question, "Black Playwrights: They Speak, Who Listens?" A livestream of the event can be viewed here.

Bill

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Freddie Robinson, Rosetta LeNoire, Gwendolyne Reyde, and Frances Brook in "Hot Mikado"; Photo by Vandamm Studio; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: NYPL_the_4056

The African American Theater Research Guide

With all the fanfare that's been generated, it's easy for theater fans to focus on the accomplishments in this watershed moment and lose sight of the rich and extensive, yet under-examined African American theater canon. To put the spotlight back on the black theater canon, the African American Theater Research Guide is intended to be a resource for those interested in digging into an illuminating trove of materials at the Schomburg Center, by and about African American theater makers.

Paul Robeson and Uta Hagen in a production of Othello

Paul Robeson and Uta Hagen in "Othello"; Photograph by Vandamm Studio; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID:  57486125

Among the many resources available on the Research and Reference Division page of the research guide, you can find recommended play anthologies that contain plays from the 19th century to contemporary times. Some anthologies are organized by genre and gender, such as  9 Plays By Black Women, which has rarely produced, but timely, plays by luminaries including Alice Childress, Ntozake ShangeKathleen Collins and Alexis DeVeaux.

The Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division page highlights archival collections that can be found at the Schomburg Center including the Negro Ensemble Company Records, 1967-1993, which documents the NEC from its beginnings to becoming one of the most influential theater companies of the 20th century. NEC is responsible for providing an artistic home for hundreds of dramatists, directors, actors and other theater makers.
One of NEC’s most famous productions was the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller, starring Denzel Washington, who reprised the role he originated in the 1984 film adaption, A Soldier’s Story.

Claudia McNeil, Sidney Poitier, and Diana Sands in a production of A Raisin in the Sun

Claudia McNeil, Sidney Poitier and Diana Sands in "A Raisin in the Sun"Photograph by Friedman-Abeles;NYPL Digital Collections ID: ps_the_cd23_336

The Photography and Prints Page includes the titles of some key photography collections such as the Bert Andrews Collection. Andrews was a photographer who captured iconic images of African American performing artists from the second half of the 20th century. The 1960s and 1970s was a heady time for black theater artists and this era is documented in Andrews’ work.

On the Moving Image and Recorded Sound page, researchers can get a sample of some of the unique audio-visual collections including the Hatch Billops Collection, which has oral histories and interviews of countless African American theater legends. This division also houses rare documentary films and cast albums of black-themed productions in various formats including LP records.
Moving Image and Recorded Sound also has a selection of broadcasts from black public affairs TV programs, which are a great primary resource for research, as they contain segments featuring interviews with African Americans artists that were broadcast in the late 20th century, allowing researchers to hear from the artists in their own voices.

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee in a production of Purlie Victorious

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee in "Purlie Victorious"; Photograph by Friedman-Abeles; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 5012768

One page of the research guide is dedicated to resources about the American Negro Theatre (ANT), a company that was in residence in the basement of the 135th Street Library (now today's Schomburg Center) from 1940 to 1945. The ANT had a multi-pronged mission: Produce plays that honestly depicted and critiqued contemporary black life and the concerns of black people, specifically, the Harlem community. Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Alice Childress, Helen Martin, Rosetta LeNoire, Hilda Simms, and William Greaves are just a handful of notable American Negro Theatre company members.

Joe Morton and Ralph Carter in a production of Raisin

Joe Morton and Ralph Carter in "Raisin"; Photograph by Martha Swope; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: swope_1192157

Gregory Hines and Judith Jamison in Sophisticated Ladies

Gregory Hines and Judith Jamison in publicity shot from "Sophisticated Ladies"; Photograph by Martha Swope; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: swope_1334207

Cleavant Derricks and Loretta Devine in a production of Big Deal

Clevant Derricks and Loretta Devine in "Big Deal"; Photograph by Martha Swope; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: swope_1117537

On an exciting side note about ANT company members, the Schomburg Center’s acquisition of the archive of one ANT’s most famous couples was recently announced: the Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Archive spans eight decades of the couple’s long-lasting career in the performing arts, their civil rights activism, and other facets of their fascinating lives. Details about the content of the Davis and Dee archive can be found here.

We hope the African American Theater Research Guide is an entree into some of the incredible holdings on this subject at the Schomburg Center that awaits researchers, both beginners and veterans alike. Staff in the Schomburg’s research divisions are here to assist you with kick-starting your research.

Denzel Washington in a production of Richard III

Denzel Washington in "Richard III"; Photograph by Martha Swope; NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: swope_628863

To those of you reading this post who are black theater artists, it’s possible that one day scholars will be at the Schomburg Center conducting research about your career, body of work, and legacy. What texts will researchers discover? What ideas and conversations will be sparked when examining your work alongside that of your contemporaries, the artists who have come before, or future generations?