Customer Reviews

A History of African American Theatre (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many of us take for granted the ability to go out on the town and enjoy a play about African Americans. Such plays as A Raisin in the Sun, Dream Girls, and The Piano Lesson have found their way into the hearts of many a theater goer and into the cultural makeup of this country. However, the making of these plays would not have been possible if not for the struggle and sacrifices of many theatrical pioneers. A History of African American Theatre by Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch is an extensive anthology of all types of African American theatre that gives a wonderful historical perspective that we can use to interpret some of what we see today. The book includes information on minstrels, vaudeville, cabaret acts, musicals, and opera. It's the complete historical reference for the African American theatre lover.

In truth, this book also was exciting to some of my friends who are more history buffs than theatre lovers. I also confess to being very impressed with the author, Mr. Hill, who was the foremost historical scholar in the African American and Caribbean theatre fields and produced and directed more than 120 plays and pageants during a life recently cut short by cancer. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting him, he clearly was a giant!

The book's appeal - like the book itself - has great breadth & depth.
--- Sheldon Dennis, VP - Family Digest Magazine

Hill and Hatch should be very proud of the scholarship that they have in this book. The reader will get a very comprehensive view of African American/Black theatre from slavery forward. It also provides great connections(in depth biographies) on earlier mentioned proprietors of theater and actors that are mentioned in elsewhere in the text.

With the text not only are you able see the history of theater through the lens of the African American experience, but you are also able to see some similar troubles and business cycles of the companies. I also was elated to see the comprising of a Black aesthetic in regards to theater; theater themes that are unique to this experience.

My only critique is that I wish they would have spent more time on the eleven survival strategies. This would have made the book instrumental in creating a theater that would survive. They could have sought out those that were doing this and which had the most of the strategies.

This is the most comprehensive and accurate book on the subject that I have seen. As a researcher in the field of music and African-American history, I was delighted to find it.