Black Theatre or No?

Written by Tony Adams Friday, 29 January 2010 10:22

IsThe Wiz black theatre? Is Israel Horovitz black theatre? 

What if it was this Wiz?



What if it was a production of The Line?

Adam Thurman asks: Do theatres have the courage and commitment to broaden their range of what a "black" play is?

Normally I'm not that interested in flipping race and casting for a publicity stunt. Productions like Steppenwolf's all black Glass Menagerie is pretty boring to me. It's still justThe Glass Menagerie. Done with artists of color, tucked away from subscription audiences: good for funders; good for talking points; not good enough for subscribers. (Though good for artists who draw a paycheck from it.)

I was thinking of that when I got a flyer in my email from Ropo Ewenla. He's a Nigerian writer, who's done some great stories on Rotimi Babatunde among others. This production of The Line is due in Nigeria after Ghana and Benin Shows in March. And they're hoping to travel to the US later in the year as part of activities for the 70th birthday of Israel Horovitz.



What happens when a company who may not look like the original cast just wants to do a show? If they are in Brisbane and want to do The Wiz, or they are from Benin, Ghana and Nigeria and want to do The Line. What would happen if a Korean company wanted to do Joe Turner?

Would this Line count as black theater? Would it only count if they were from the US, or the writer was black? When talking with African artists in the US, in the UK, in France, I have never heard them question if their work was black. I know a couple of them would be pretty offended if they were told that being Black is unique to the US. Most artists I've talked to or worked with would prefer to defy labels. Most African artists would probably point out their work is more than just African, more than just Black.

Do we need to amend Adam's question to add, do we have the courage and commitment to broaden their range of what a "black" play is? Do we have room to expand our outlook beyond the coasts?

I have a lot more questions than answers. What do you think?

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