Introduction

Web Lecture#1

THE4233-01

African American Performance

Introduction

Lesson Overview

This lesson will introduce you to methods of studying and evaluating African American performance in the United States.

Key Concepts

African American identity
African American Theater: Definitions
Performance and Politics
Vernacular and Folk Cultural Performance
Qualities and Aesthetics of African American Performance

What this Course is About

This course is a theater history and play analysis course that examines plays that emerge from the experience of African Americans in the United States. Over the course of the semester you will read about twenty (20) plays written by African Americans and discuss the social and political circumstances that led to the development of these plays. In the second half of the semester, you will present and discuss scenes from several contemporary plays by African American playwrights.

Part of the course material will be delivered to you through web technology. "Web Lectures" available through the Blackboard program will replace the traditional classroom textbook. This will allow you to prepare for class by reading on the web about each historical time period. After reading the web lectures, you will be able to apply your knowledge to the individual plays that we will be reading and discussing in class.

In addition to the class reading and web lectures you will work with a small group over the course of the semester to develop a classroom presentation and an accompanying portfolio that compares and contrasts two plays. You will be assigned a scene group early on in the semester. I expect you to work as a team to develop these classroom projects. I will assign each group a private Discussion Board location where they may track the progress of their projects.

Additional assignments include class Discussion Boards and a Play Review. Information about these assignments will be discussed in class and posted on the web.

How to Earn an A in This Course

To earn an A in this class you will need to:

Read the Web Lectures for the first 9 weeks and their accompanying links.

Pass the midterm and final examinations with a grade of 93 or better.

Participate in class discussions and exercises.

Miss no more than three classes.

Develop an excellent production portfolio/scene presentation with your group members.

African American Theater: Definitions

W.E.B. Dubois defined African American theater in the 1920Õs as theater by, for, about, and near African Americans. While many have challenged this definition, it remains an effective starting point for a consideration of what constitutes African American drama. I prefer to use a broad definition of this genre.

Theater "by" African Americans refers to authorship and may include playwrights, directors, producers, actors, and others who initiate productions.

Theater "for" African Americans refers to the audience. Many African American plays are directed to both Black and White audience constituencies.

Theater "near" African Americans may be broadly defined as productions that are close to African American communities.

Theater "about" African Americans means that the plays comment on or reflect upon the unique experience of African Americans in the United States.

What to Bring to Class on Tuesday, September 4, 2001

For class on Tuesday, be prepared to discuss the meaning and implications of the following quotation.

Our anthologyÉproceeds from the assertion that, at its inception, the African American "race question" is inherently theatrical. From the arrival of the first African slaves on American soil, the discourse of race, the definitions and meanings of blackness, have been intricately linked to issues of theater and performance. Definitions of race, like the processes of theater, fundamentally depend upon the relationship between the seen and the unseen, between the visibly marked and the unmarked, between the "real" and the illusionary. (Elam Jr., Harry. "The Device of Race: an Introduction," African American Performance and Theater History, edited by Harry Elam Jr. and David Krasner, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 4).

We will also be defining the following terms:

Polycentric movement

[Introduction]	[African Grove Theater]	[Abolition]	[Minstrelsy and Popular Entertainments]	[Harlem Renaissance]
[Federal Theater Project]	[Desegregation and Civil Rights Movement]	[Black Revolutionary Arts Movement]	[The Negro Ensemble Company and Blacks in the Military]	[Home]