How are Black artists, activists, and pedagogues wielding acts of rebellion, activism, and solidarity to precipitate change? How have contemporary performances impacted Black cultural, social, and political struggles? What are the ways in which these acts and artists engage varied Black identities and explore shared histories?
Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance investigates these questions to illuminate the relationship between performance, identity, intersectionality, and activism in North America and beyond. It features contributions from scholars, artists, and activists from across disciplines who explore the nuances and varied forms of Black performance in the 21st century while incorporating performance-based methodologies and queer and black feminist theories.
Among the many topics addressed by contributors are antiracist pedagogy, Black queer identity formation in Black playwriting, digital blackface, and Black women's subversive practices within contemporary popular culture. It encompasses dramatic analysis of Lynn Nottage's Sweat, Tarell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy, and acts of resistance during the Black Lives Matter summer 2020 highway protests. A series of conversations with artists and scholars are woven throughout the book’s three sections, including with playwrights Christina Anderson and Donja R. Love, and Willa Taylor, Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago.
"List of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Preface Acknowledgments Introduction, DeRon S. Williams (Loyola University Chicago, USA), Khalid Y. Long (University of Georgia, USA), and Martine Kei Green-Rogers (DePaul University, USA) PART I: STAGE AS A SITE OF RADICAL POSSIBILITIES 1. Sweat Equity: Lynn Nottage's Radical Dialectic of Deindustrialization, Jocelyn L. Buckner (Chapman University, USA) 2. ""Those Songs Were More than Just"": Spirituals, Queer Reckonings and Tarell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy, Isaiah Matthew Wooden (Swarthmore College, USA) 3. Trauma, Truth, and Turning the Lens: Black Theater Artists and White Theater Audiences, Suzanne Delle, (York College of Pennsylvania, USA), and Loretta Brady (Saint Anselm College, USA) In The Trenches: A Conversation with Christina Anderson, DeRon S. Williams (Loyola University Chicago, USA) PART II: PERFORMANCE IN THE MAKING 4. Re-Writing the Declaration: Healing In Theater From A Black, Queer, Feminist Lens, Quenna Barrett (NYU Steinhardt, USA) 5. ineffable dramaturgies: Experiments in Black Queer and Trans Liberation On and Off Stage, s.e. callender (Independent Scholar/Artist, Canada) 6. Reconsidering and Recasting, Ray Proctor (Tulane University, USA) 7. We are the Canon: Anti-Racist Theatre Pedagogy, Maya Johnson (Independent Scholar and Practitioner, USA), Daphnie Sicre (Loyola Marymount University, USA), and Karl O'Brian Williams (NYU, USA) In The Trenches: A Conversation with Donja R. Love, Martine Kei Green-Rogers (DePaul University, USA) PART III: PERFORMANCE AND/AS PROTEST 8. (W)right Of Way: Black Geographies and American Interstates, Jenny Henderson (Tufts University, USA) 9. Honk for Justice, Jocelyn Prince (Northwestern University, USA), and Harvey Young (Boston University, USA) 10. Serena Williams' Sonic Refusal, Leticia Ridley (Santa Clara University, USA) 11. Cancel Culture, Digital Blackface, and Internalized Anti-Blackness, Aviva Helen Neff (Columbus College of Art and Design, USA) In The Trenches: A Conversation with Willa J. Taylor, Khalid Y. Long (University of Georgia, USA) Bibliography Index"
DeRon S. Williams is Assistant Professor of Theatre in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Loyola University Chicago, USA. Khalid Y. Long is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies and the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Georgia, USA. Martine Kei Green-Rogers is the Dean of The Theatre School at DePaul University, USA.
