Introduction to African American Theater-Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harry Elam argues in the introduction of African American Theater and Performance History that "race reamins a device with very real meanings"(2001,6). Thinking about the ways the characters in Aikens' Uncle Tom's Cabin are represented, how do you understand race to operate as a device in this play? In what ways can you make sense of the idea of race as social construction that changes its meaning over time? What situations between characters can you isolate that repersentative of "race relations" in this particular historical context?

Welcome to African American Theatre at USC Fall 2007

Welcome to the blog for African American Theater at USC, Fall 2007. This is the site for you to log your personal responses to the plays and critical texts we read in the course. Please use your name so that I can identify you and give you credit for your participation. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you in this course. Please begin to log in and blog by week 2 of the course.

Where do you see African American Theater in tne next five years?

In this course we read a wide range of plays and ciritcal texts and viewed several film versions of African American plays. Now that you can create a definition of what African American Theater was in the past and is currently, what projections can you make for a future African American Theater audience in the next five years? What do you think that writers and producers can do to cultivate new plays by African Americans and a new audience for African American Theater?

Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman and Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman

In what way do you see the color politics between light skinned and dark skinned African Americans tie back to early discussions of "plantation mentatlity" in both of these works? Do Orlandersmith and Perry disrupt or complicate any Black stereotypes? How would you situate Orlandersmith's play and Perrys' film (based on his play) within Henry Louis Gates' "legitimate" and "illegitimate" theater binary?

Danny Hoch's Jails, Hospitals and Hip-hop and The Hip-hop Theater Manifesto

After reviewing Hoch's play and his Hip-hop Theater manifesto, we discussed the ways that Hoch relies upon many African American historical and cultural contribitions to define what Hip-hop Theater is. Many of you argued that much of Hoch's work resonates as self-important and elite. Hoch's goal is actually to serve the Hip-hop community by making theater accessible and grounded in the experiences of the Hip-hop generation. Why do you think his Hoch's texts may betray his intent? Hoch argues Hip-hop is a polycultural art form. If this is true, how does Hip-hop and a theater produced by it sustain itself artistically if its practioners, producers and consumers are all of diverse racial, ethnic, cultural and national backgrounds? What is the relationship between race and culture that creates a measuring stick for Hip-hop authenticity, and if so what does it look like?

Suzan-Lori Parks' The America Play and Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s The Chitlin Circuit

What is "Black" and "American" about Suzan- Lori Parks' The America Play? What contradictions do you see in Parks' work when placed into the larger context of African American Theater? Does she write a play "by, about , for and near" Black people? Does her play reflect some of the issues in African American theater practices that Gates presents in his article that suggest a "legitimate" and illegitimate" Black Theater? If we are striving towards racial equality in the American Theater, does Parks contribute to this goal? Why or why not?

August Wilson's Fences aand Charles Fullers' A Soldier's Play ( and Story)

Many of you said that you felt these plays by Wilson and Fuller were"universal." How do the representations of Black men presented in these plays stand as "universal" characters if at all? If the military, music and sports are key avenues for self-empowerment presented by the playwrights, how do you see these institutions operating across racial lines today? Are they sites for all men to find opportunities for achievement outside of prescribed racial roles or do they target men based on racial stereotype still today?