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King Hedley II
Lenny Henry (left) as Elmore and Aaron Pierre as King Hedley in a production of August Wilson's play King Hedley II, directed by Nadia Fall at Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, 2019.
Black theater
American theater
Also known as: African American theatre
- Related Topics:
- African Americans
- theatre
Black theater, in the United States, a dramatic movement encompassing plays written by, for, and about African Americans. The minstrel shows of the early 19th century are believed by some to be the roots of Black theater, but they initially were written by white people, acted by white performers in blackface, and performed for white audiences. After the American Civil War, Black actors began to perform in minstrel shows (then called “Ethiopian minstrelsy”), and by the turn of the 20th century they were producing Black musicals, many of which were written, produced, and acted entirely by African Americans. The first ...(100 of 533 words)