Essay About African American Theatre And Inner Life

Introduction to African American Theatre
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African American theatre – HandoutTHE PrimordiaBROWN’S AFRICAN GROOVE THEATRETHREE PHASES1816-1821 – Inner life, singing, dancing and reciting1821 – African Groove Tea-GardenMordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851)Sheriff of New York, judge, politician, playwright, critic and editor of National AdvocatePolitical noticeClosed the Tea-GardenSHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III1821-1823 – Theatre as a way to protest racismOuter life protest playsJune 20, 1823 – The drama of King Shotaway1st African American play known to have been written strictly for political purposesPlot: 1795 Garifuna Insurrection against the British on the island of Saint Vincent. AFTER: BROWN DISAPEARNoah originated negative African American stereotypes in dramaNoah said “apes – the imitative kitchen inmates with oily faces, surprised eyes and triple lips”African American themselves picked and projected these images for the next 75 years. DUBOIS SCHOOL OF DRAMADuBois – 1911Teach the “colored people” the meanings of their history and their rich emotional life. Wrote:Suppression of the African Slave Trade (1896)Philadelphia Negro (1899) – Sociologic study – made to identify social problems in the Afro-American communityDuBois school of theatre – strictly political Criticize Broadway: “decadent” stories about “clowning people” PLAY: STAR OF ETHIOPIA5 scene playPerformed in:1913 – New York1915 – Washington1916 – Philadelphia1925 – Los AngelesScene 1 – Gift of iron: prehistoric black man who gave to the world the gift of his own invention, the welding ironScene 2 – The dream of Egypt: depict Ethiopia, as the mother of men, then leads the mythic procession of historic events past the glory of ancient Egypt, showcasing Africa as the center of art and commerce with the splendid kingdoms of Sudan and ZimbabweScene 3 – Glory of Ethiopia, the evolution of human conflictScene 4 – Valley of humiliation, diaspora and the tragedy of the American slave trade with the resistance to oppressionScene 5 – The vision everlasting highlighting African-American in various professional roles up from slavery. Slowly, the black race writhes back to life and hope, on which the star of Ethiopia gleans forever.CONFLICT: DUBOIS VS ALAIN LOCKELocke – DuBois school of protest was indigestible Spent 12 years trying to change DuBois school from the insideStarted to push artists away from protest writing  -> believed in the first ideas of Brown’s theatre “Inner Life”1922: publishes “Steps toward the Negro Theatre” in DuBois Crisis Magazine“New Negro”“Criteria of Negro Art” – DuBois answer to Locke“By agreeing to focus on Inner life themes and people, Locke’s New negro artists were being hoodwinked into stopping agitation on the African American question”Art is merely propagandaDUBOIS SCHOOL OF THEATRE VS ART THEATRE OF LOCKEDuBoisLockePlotRevealed African AmericansFull of these people’s “lusty” lives, myths, legends and historiesCharacters“Came from the same mold as model human beings and historical figures, characters who pine because frustrated hope”“Off the streets, who came out of joints and dives – people who, while ‘cutting the fool’ expressed honest and personal emotions, irrespective of politics”ThemesPricked the consciences of white peopleDirected themes almost exclusively to African Americans. Without sentimentalizing issues, he sometimes indicated whitesLanguageSpoke up for “literate and thought provoking”Ordinary folk – dressed up with poetry, music and dance