A History of African American Theatre Through the Lens of "Black Masks" Publication, 1984–2020

FAIN: HB-273355-21

Mary Elizabeth Turner
Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, FL 32307-3102)

Preparation for publication of a book about African American theater and Black Masks magazine (1984-2020), which will include essays about significant African American administrators, playwrights, actors, directors, and designers.

The book I propose, "A History of African American Theatre Through the Lens of 'Black Masks' Publication, 1984–2020, will be an historical overview of the disciplines in Black theatre, told through the life stories of their respective African American theatre practitioners: administrators, playwrights, actors, directors, and designers. I will write an original essay for each chapter, providing historical context and addressing some of the challenges particular to each discipline. Each of the five chapters will also contain selected original biographical articles about significant Black theatre professionals in the discipline. These will be drawn from the archives of "Black Masks" magazine, my 35-year old publication on the Black performing arts. The articles, based on firsthand interviews, will be arranged chronologically within each chapter. Ultimately, the book will be a vibrant, discipline by discipline chronicle of Black theatre through the lives of those who lived it.