INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UME films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quall^ of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right m equal sections wdth small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included m reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell lofonnation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 AFRICAN-AMERICAN DRAMATIC THEORY AS SUBJECT OF CULTURAL STUDIES: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Michael L. Pinkney; B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1999 Dissertation Committee : Dr. Alan Woods, Advisor Dr. Esther Beth Sullivan Dr. Firman H. Brown lov Advisor Department of Theatre UMI Number: 9931671 Copyright 1999 by Pinkney, Michael Lynn All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9931671 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 © Copyright by Michael L. Pinkney 1999 ABSTRACT This study is an historical overview of written theories and manifestoes created to encourage the development of African-American theatre. Beginning with the premise that African-American performance began as a forced "public" act on the slave ships of the Middle Passage and that minstrelsy was an originating institutional frame, by mapping a chronological history of social ideas the study demonstrates an evolved history of theoretical ideas and a tradition of spiritual awareness, sensibility and purpose associated with the development of African-American theatre in the United States. It concludes that African-American theatre is an American sociocultural phenomenon born of historical conflict, has served both public and private functions within the larger society and has been on a continuous quest for self identification and self e:xpressive freedom. This historical survey of aesthetic theories concerning African-American theatre has revealed five essential elements or fundamentals of African-American theatre; protest:, revolt. assertion, music and spirituality. It has also revealed seven distinctive eras or periods of development; the ii plantation era, the minstrel era, the "new Negro era, the assimilationist era, the Black Power/Black Arts/ Black Revolutionary era, the Revo lu t ionary-Af rocentr i c era, and ends with the identification and justification of a Post- Revolutionary era. The seventh era, the Post-Revolutionary, presents ideological aesthetic principles highlighted in an aesthetic declaration as published in Black Theatre's Unprecedented Times. a report of two National Black Theatre Summit events convened in 1998 by playwright August Wilson. The study concludes with a suggestion for African-American theatre artists to take advantage of the present "millennium moment" to establish their own ideological modes of theatrical operation based on the defined aesthetics of their own theatrical history and theoretical traditions. I l l DEDICATION With love and appreciation to Mom, Hely, and Patrick for obvious reasons, and to every encouraging spirit I have encountered on this joumey. Many thanks for the insights, light and pure love you shared. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My deepest respect, gratitude and sincere appreciation to my advisor Dr. Alan Woods for his able guidance, inspiration, support and an endearing kind of tough love. Overwhelming appreciation goes to mentors and committee members Dr. Firman H. "Bo" Brown and Dr. Esther Beth Sullivan for starting me on this constructive path and being there at the finish. I will remember you, thank you, and love each of you daily and forever. Thanks to my many caring and understanding students who have showered me with love and good wishes and endured a semester with less of my attention than any of us expected. Many thanks to my colleagues in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida for earnest support during the past five years. Special appreciation to Dean Donald McGlothlin of the College of Fine Arts and Theatre and Dance Chair Prof. Kevin Marshall, for their extra efforts in helping me to trod this last mile and get through the final hoop. Thanks to the wonderful and caring friends who have done more than they know to inspire this work: Luther W. , Jim B . , Caron C ., Ralf R., Ricardo M. and Byron S. V Thanks to my light workers circle who taught me to bravely follow the true spirit within, to the Board and members of the Black Theatre Network, and to my Texas family ( Kemp- Wilsons et al.) for the fervent prayers they sent up on behalf of this work. I must acknowledge some wonderful role models for their literal and inspirational push to complete this task; Dr. Winona "Ma" Fletcher, Dr. Margaret Wilkerson, Dr. V e m e l l Lillie, Dr. Ethel Pitts-Walker, Dr. Beverly Robinson and Mr. Robert T. Holland. Also the special encouragements and individual parts played by Dr. Lundeana M. Thomas and Rev. Mercy D. Thomas, Dr. Judith Stephens, Prof. Kathryn Ervin, Prof. Gregory Horton, Ntozake Shange, Woodie King, Jr., Prof. Elmo Terry-Morgan and The Rev. Dr. Prof. Clinton Turner Davis. Above all, thanks be to God and all the guides, guardians and ancestral spirits. Deep and endless love to my biggest fans, Geraldine Pinkney and my devoted and personal guardian angel Dr. Hely Manuel Pérez. My life's work is now to prove your faith and expectations worthy of the energies you have all devoted to this effort. VI VITA September 9, 1950 .......... B o m - Beaumont, TX 1973 ......................... B.A. , Hampton Institute, Hampton, VA 1974-1976 ................... Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Speech, Communi­ cation and Theatre, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 1978-1985 ................... Artistic Director, Billie Holiday Theatre, Brooklyn, NY 1 9 8 1 ......................... Director Broadway Production, Inacent Black. Biltmore Theatre, New York, NY 1982-1989 ................... Free Lance Director. Artist in Residence, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 1984-1989 ................... Artistic Director, Harmonie Park Playhouse and Actors Lab, Detroit, MI 1989 ......................... Film and Television Directing Studies, New York University 1990-1994 ................... Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Theatre, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 1992 ......................... M. A. , The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 1994-Present ................. Asst. Professor of Theatre and Dance, Coordinator of Minority Affairs-CFA, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 1996-1998 ................... President, Black Theatre Network vii PUBLICATIONS "Theatrical Expressionism in the Structure and Language of Ntozake Shange's Soell #7." Theatre Studies. (Vol. 37, 1992), 5-15. "The National Black Theatre Festival and Black Theatre Network National Conference," review in Theatre Journal (Vol. 44, 1992), 223-225. "A Look at Things to Come . .," BTNews (Vol. 6, No. 4), Summer 1996.10-12. "Notes from the Master: A Conversation with Dr. Lloyd Richards," BTNews (Vol. 7, No. 3), Spring 1997, 8-12. "The Black Theatre Network-AGIA Connection: An Unprecedented Publication for Unprecedented Times," Black Theatre's Unprecedented Times. Gainesville: Black Theatre Network, 1999, 35-39. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Theatre Studies in: Dramatic Theoiry and Criticism - Dr. Esther Beth Sullivan and Dr. Stratos Constantinidis. Theatre History - Dr. Alfred Golding, Dr. Alan Woods and Dr. Esther Beth Sullivan. Dramatic Literature - Dr. Alan Woods and Dr. Joy Riley. Production Theory - Dr. Fiirman H. Brown and Dr. Rex McGraw. Cultural Studies - Dr. Alan Woods. African- American Theatre - Dr. Esther Beth Sullivan, Dr. Anthony Hill and Dr. Joy Riley. African Theatre - Dr. Jon Conte-Morgon. V l l l TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ............................................... ü DEDICATION............................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................ v VITA ......................................................vii PUBLICATIONS AND FIELDS OF STUDY......................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................... ix CHAPTERS : 1. INTRODUCTION....................................... 1 2 . THE ROOTS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN THEATRE : FROM MINSTRELSY TO WARRANTED ASSERTION