A Note from the Editor

When I invited one of African American theatre’s pioneering scholars, practitioners, and educators to add his voice to this special issue on “Teaching African American Theatre,” he respectfully declined. “Why do you need a special issue for this?” he asked. “You should teach African American theatre with just as much integrity, preparation, and rigor as you would any other type of theatre! There is no special or unique way to teach it!” In principle, of course, this uncompromising and longstanding guardian of the discipline and of the culture was correct. During his lifetime, he had been part of the vanguard of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, when African American theatre was the weapon of choice to “radically reorder the Western aesthetic.” Likewise, he has firsthand knowledge of battles that were waged during the late 1960s and early ’70s to force universities to acknowledge African American studies as a discipline worthy of course offerings and concentration. While agreeing to disagree with his sentiments, his reasoning was certainly not lost on me: to him I pay homage, dedicating this special issue to my anonymous friend.

Disagreement aside, however, the twenty-first-century classroom—characterized by a more level playing field, by shifting racial dynamics in student populations, and by varying degrees of readiness among instructors to teach the material—now demands a radical reordering of approaches to teaching African American theatre. At the same time, the steady increase in quality, number, and availability of African American dramatic works has created a windfall for teachers of African American theatre from various races and ethnic backgrounds. Due in no small measure to major works by August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, and Aisha Rahman, for example, African American theatre has moved from the margins to become the focus of a growing body of scholarship and critical commentary that greatly facilitate teachers’ efforts to share these works with their students.

Another major byproduct of this renaissance in African American theatre is a renewed focus on seldom taught but significant early African American plays; just as important, there is a receptiveness to teaching a growing body of contemporary dramatic works. In the process—and contrary to the views expressed above by my esteemed scholar/practitioner—today’s teachers are discovering that the one-size-fits-all approach to teaching African American theatre is no longer an option. Serious engagement of this discipline requires not only a healthy regard for the material, but also demands a wealth of practical, hands-on knowledge and proven teaching tools that combine both cultural sensitivity and rigor in today’s challenging classroom.

The eleven essays that comprise this special issue fall under three broad headings: 1) essays that offer strategies for thinking about and talking about race in the classroom; 2) essays that offer strategies for creating a more inclusive understanding of African American theatre; and 3) essays that offer concrete strategies and best practices for teaching African American drama. The strategies offered by these authors have been field-tested before diverse audiences and in a variety of circumstances. Lessons were learned. Some of their ideas on what works in the classroom were kept, many were undoubtedly tossed. I trust that what remains here will stand the test of time.

This special issue of Theatre Topics is the culmination of a unique set of circumstances: first, two wildly successful pre-conferences on “Teaching African American Drama” sponsored by ATHE’s Black Theatre Association (BTA); second, a persistent and persuasive past president of BTA who serves as guest editor and who early on convinced me of the need to capture the essence of both pre-conferences and to share the bounty of these efforts with ATHE’s membership at large and beyond; and last, a Theatre Topics editor whose years of teaching and scholarship in African American theatre have convinced her of the need for helpful and healthy suggestions for teaching African American theatre to an eager new generation of learners. I present to you, then, “Teaching African American Theatre,” a special issue that has been, for me, a labor of love. It is my...