“WHAT ARE THE UNIQUE OBSTACLES BLACK THEATER EXPERIENCES IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND HOW CAN THEY CAN CREATE A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES FOR THE POTENTIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF BOTH?” By Tanesha M. Ford A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Drexel University by Tanesha M. Ford in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Arts Administration March 2016 i COPYRIGHT 2016 Tanesha M. Ford. All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATIONS This thesis is dedicated to my father, Harl M. Ford who, at the very end of this amazing academic adventure, passed away. My insight, passion, compassion and humor are all because of you. And to my mother, Bonnie L. Ford, who in her own time of grief after losing the companion she’s had since the age of 18, pushed herself to push me through these last months of school. Thank you both. Harl M. Ford 9/25/1942 – 11/1/2015 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge my professors, Neville Vakharia and Andrew Zitcer for providing me the knowledge necessary to complete this thesis and in particular Julie Goodman-Hawkins for her guidance and empathy throughout this academic journey. I also want to acknowledge those who contributed their time and insights to this final product: • Holly Sidford – Helicon Collaborative • Seth Rozin – InterAct Theater • Valerie Gay – Art Sanctuary • Jen Childs – 1812 Productions • Nicole Allen – Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance And those who helped me crystalize my thoughts into a cogent work. • Suhee You • Bobbi Block • Yinka Orafidiya iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Copyright 2016 ............................................................................................................. i Dedications ................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................. vi Abstract ..................................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................. 3 Defining Black Theater ........................................................................................................ 5 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 6 Significance and Limitations of this Study ............................................................................ 7 Challenges during Research ................................................................................................ 10 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 11 Business in the Black Community: Historical Context .......................................................... 11 Black Businesses Post Civil-War ............................................................................................ 11 Black Communities Post Civil War ........................................................................................ 14 Civil Rights Movement in America ...................................................................................... 16 State of BLACK THEATER ............................................................................................ 19 Challenges to Sustainability ................................................................................................ 23 Economic Disparity and its Effect on Black Theater Donor Support ..................................... 24 National Funding .................................................................................................................. 30 Community Engagement Vs Audience Engagement ............................................................ 32 Governance .......................................................................................................................... 36 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 38 Success = Sustainability ...................................................................................................... 39 Mission First - Growth Optional .......................................................................................... 40 Audience Development - Community Relationships ........................................................... 42 Happenings - Take Theater to the People ............................................................................ 44 Civic Engagement ................................................................................................................. 46 FUTURE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................. 50 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix A ........................................................................................................................ 52 Appendix B ......................................................................................................................... 58 v Appendix C ......................................................................................................................... 63 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 65 Black Philanthropic Resources ................................................................................... 68 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - List of Interviewees ............................................................................................ 9 Figure 2 - Total Black Theaters (Active/Inactive) ............................................................ 10 Figure 3 - Black Businesses 1850-1930 ............................................................................ 12 Figure 4 - History of Vacancy Tenth Street ...................................................................... 16 Figure 5 - Black Theaters in TCG ..................................................................................... 20 Figure 8 - Minority Annual Spending ............................................................................... 26 Figure 6 - Percentage of White Income per Income Bracket ............................................ 29 Figure 7 - Percent of Black Income per Income Bracket .................................................. 30 vii ABSTRACT The question set forth in this thesis is, “What are the unique obstacles Black theater experiences in the 21st century and how can they can create a symbiotic relationship with their communities for the potential sustainability of both?” Its purpose is to investigate the root challenges Black theater experiences in achieving sustainability in America, to discern how much American racial turmoil has affected the Black community and therefore Black theater, and to identify methods by which Black theater can reverse engineer a path to a symbiotic relationship with their communities in order to consistently achieve the sustainability of both. This thesis found that Black theaters in America are far less represented than their Eurocentric counterparts. Black theaters memberships within theater industry trade organizations (i.e., League of Resident Theaters and Theater Communications Group) are not reflective of the number of Black theaters operating in America. Black theaters represent approximately 13% of theater community, but less than 2% have memberships in industry groups. Black theaters are also disproportionally less visible than their Eurocentric counterparts. In this era of almost immediate digital access, accessing the existence of or information on theaters for and by the African American Diaspora is nominal at best. The national databases researched for this thesis; League of Resident Theatres, Theater Communications Group, Actors Equity and others, do not either have Black theaters listed within them, or do not signify the existence a theater as a Black theater. Nor is there any empirical data specifically on why this disparity exists in the theater community. However, this thesis found a correlation between the success or failure of the Black communities compared to the success or failure of Eurocentric viii communities and the success or failure of Black theaters compared to Eurocentric theaters. This disparity of representation of Black theater is a reflection of racial inequality in American culture. When identifying challenges in the Black community I found that systemic racism leads to economic inequality (African American household income in America consistently less than Eurocentric household incomes Figure 7 Figure 8, which ultimately leads to failing communities Figure 4. This same paradigm occurs in Black theater yet manifests slightly differently: Systemic racism leads to economic inequality (individual donor priorities shift to need base reasoning, audience participation from the community dissipates