Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Cambridge Companions to Theatre and Performance
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Slavery, Performance, and the Design of African American Theatre
- Chapter 2 Slave Rebellions on the National Stage
- Chapter 3 Early Black Americans on Broadway
- Chapter 4 Drama in the Harlem Renaissance
- Chapter 5 The Negro Little Theatre Movement
- Chapter 6 Black Women Dramatists, 1930–1960
- Chapter 7 Amiri Baraka and the Black Arts Movement
- Chapter 8 Fragmented Musicals and 1970s Soul Aesthetic
- Chapter 9 Spectacles of Whiteness from Adrienne Kennedy to Suzan-Lori Parks
- Chapter 10 African American Performance and Community Engagement
- Chapter 11 Women Playwrights Who Cross Cultural Borders
- Chapter 12 African Diaspora Drama
- Chapter 13 Black Theatre in the Age of Obama
- Chapter 14 Staging Black Lives Matter
- Chapter 15 Contemporary Black Queer Drama
- Chapter 16 African American Dance Theatre
- Index
Chapter 2 - Slave Rebellions on the National Stage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 June 2023
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Cambridge Companions to Theatre and Performance
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Slavery, Performance, and the Design of African American Theatre
- Chapter 2 Slave Rebellions on the National Stage
- Chapter 3 Early Black Americans on Broadway
- Chapter 4 Drama in the Harlem Renaissance
- Chapter 5 The Negro Little Theatre Movement
- Chapter 6 Black Women Dramatists, 1930–1960
- Chapter 7 Amiri Baraka and the Black Arts Movement
- Chapter 8 Fragmented Musicals and 1970s Soul Aesthetic
- Chapter 9 Spectacles of Whiteness from Adrienne Kennedy to Suzan-Lori Parks
- Chapter 10 African American Performance and Community Engagement
- Chapter 11 Women Playwrights Who Cross Cultural Borders
- Chapter 12 African Diaspora Drama
- Chapter 13 Black Theatre in the Age of Obama
- Chapter 14 Staging Black Lives Matter
- Chapter 15 Contemporary Black Queer Drama
- Chapter 16 African American Dance Theatre
- Index
Summary
Heather Nathans centers the representation of slave rebellions and rebellious Black characters on the theatrical stage “from the colonial era through the beginning of the twentieth century.” She reveals how dramatic representations of captive uprisings were influenced by actual events. For example, the revolution in Haiti (formerly Saint Domingue), which was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture in 1791, inspired the scripting of numerous plays about unrest and revolution in “Hayti,” among other places. Nathans reveals that plays, penned by both White and Black playwrights, frequently depicted the unjust conditions to which Black men and women were subjected. They framed rebellion and revolt as justifiable acts.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre , pp. 34 - 58Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023