The development of African American drama can be traced back to the slave-trade era. As more slaves integrated, they developed a certain artistic approach to all their activities. However, it is after World War II that African American dramatists started to emerge openly and without any fear of prejudice and discrimination. Dramatists like William Blackwell emerged as the pioneers for African American drama and they created a foundation which was to be followed by many other dramatists from the African American race (Harris 10). Although the theatres had been dominated by white actors and play writers, the end of the war signified a very important period in the development of drama by African Americans.
Historically, African American drama was perceived to have started way back in the nineteenth century. This was the period when racism and discrimination was prevalent in the country. Open prejudice and segregation was very common and this hindered the breakthrough of African American play writers. They therefore practiced these plays in secrecy since most of them were satirical and had contents that criticized the mode of governance and social integration in the country.
In order to encompass all the issues related to individual likes and dislikes, there was a strong aspect niche of the 19th century, with issues between the African Americans and the whites undergoing considerable reforms just like other legal, religious, social, and political institutions (Harris 24). After the Second World War, the African Americans underwent an artistic reform and they emerged with some scripts, which came to be featured in the American theaters, just the same way the whites’ drama was featured hitherto.
The onset of African American drama in the United States experienced major boost from other play writers that were well established. The blacks were therefore featured in operas and other musical experimental while the whites took the major parts of the play. This created opportunities for the African Americans to learn and nurture individual talents with intentions of producing their own piece of drama. Due to the fact that African American drama was mostly inspired by satirical contents, most of the theater goers found the plays to be more radical than entertaining. However, the notions changed with each decade as more African American writers became less radical and concentrated more on the entertainment perspective of drama.
The whole scene was changed when there emerged the civil-rights revolution in the 1960’s. It’s after this revolution that renown dramatists like August Wilson emerged. This dramatist managed to rise above the rest of the black community by producing a hit after another and ending a predominant scenario of one hit wonder.
The presence of the African Americans was significantly increased in theatres, and especially in Off Broadway (Bryer and Hartig 17). This dramatist has managed to produce some of the best plays in America, with a unique touch on families and human essentials. By getting closer to the viewers, this dramatist managed to push drama to higher levels with acclaimed plays that were mostly successful on Broadway.
Drama not only associates songs and dances, but also other talent that range from performances to individual capabilities in the fields of art and other artistic fields. Drama has had significant grounds among the African Americans. With each passage of tenure, there has been an influential aspect that has seen the development of the talent from the pre-colonial period to the current state. Although African Americans were regarded as more talented in musicals, they still managed to produce best pieces of artistic drama that integrated all the available concepts of drama. Other than the past when African Americans acted as mere performers, the twentieth century revolutionized the whole scene and ensured that the African Americans were better positioned in terms of talent exposure, just like their white counterparts (Harris 43).
The African Americans have been associated with many negative issues. It has been the issue of the African Americans to produce the best aspects in terms of management and other issues with regard to the arts of the African American. The arts of these individuals encompasses-asset development, talents, as well as other artistic issues that is common among individuals. Despite having racially biased theatres in some parts of the United states, African American dramatists have managed to overcome these hurdles and are now doing extemporary well in the field.
Works Cited
Bryer, Jackson R and Mary C. Hartig. The Facts on File Companion to American Drama. New York, NY: Facts on File, inc, 2010. Print.
Harris, Trudier. Reading contemporary African American drama: fragments of history, fragments of self. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2007. Print.
Krasner,David. A beautiful pageant: African American theatre, drama, and performance in the Harlem Renaissance, 1910-1927. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Print.
