Western-style theatrical presentations with stages separate from audiences did not exist in traditional African society. Drama was intrinsic to community building and/or religious rituals that encompassed song, dance, and object performance. The material culture of this type of performance did not survive slavery in the United States, but the storytelling performance context in which it had originally functioned preserved other modes of figurative representation. This session traces the lineage of African American women playwrights who have sought to reintegrate object performance into theatrical productions, specifically examining works by Rita Bonner, Zora Neale Hurston, Ntozake Shange, Pearl Cleage, and Alva Rogers.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event. Please visit
our Eventbrite to purchase a ticket.
This session will begin at 3:00 pm ET on Thursday, July 16th, 2020.
Its link to join will only be visible to those registered and signed in to their Sched account.
