African and African American theatre: past and present

314 Pages·2010·5.645 MB·English

by  Mid-America Theatre Conference., Justice-Malloy, Rhona

Theatre History Studies
2010 VOLUME 30
African and African Ameri can Theatre Past and Present
\
Edited by
RHONA JUSTICE- MALLOY
PUBLISHED BY THE MID- AMERICA THEATRE CONFERENCE
AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Copyright © 2010
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487- 0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by Todd Lape / Lape Designs
Typeface: Minion
Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts and
America: History and Life.
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements
of Ameri can National Standard for Information Sciences- Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48- 1984.

MEMBER Consulting Editors
CELJ Rosemarie K. Bank, Kent State University
Council of Editors of Learned Journals Suzanne Burgoyne, University of Missouri
Peter Campbell, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Cover: Rose McClendon in Deep River, Imperial Stacey Connelly, Trinity University
Theatre, 1926, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New Tracy Davis, Northwestern University
York Public Library at Lincoln Center, Astor, Le- Lesley Ferris, Ohio State University
nox, and Tilden Foundations Margaret Knapp, Arizona State University
Christopher McCollough, Exeter University
Editor Kim Marra, University of Iowa
Rhona Justice- Malloy, University of Mississippi Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix, Miami University of Ohio
Scott Magelsson, Bowling Green State University
Book Review Editor Heather Nathans, University of Maryland
Cheryl Black, University of Missouri John Poole, Illinois State University
Joseph R. Roach, Yale University
Denis Salter, McGill University
Editorial Associate
Catherine Schuler, University of Maryland
Catherine Mayhew
Delbert Unruh, University of Kansas
Les Wade, Louisiana State University
Editorial Board
Daniel J. Watermeier, University of Toledo
Mary Cutler, President of MATC
Don B. Wilmeth, Brown University
Felicia Hardison Londré, University of Missouri–
Kansas City
Past editors of Theatre History Studies
Ron Engle, University of North Dakota
Ron Engle, 1981–1993
Robert A. Schanke, 1994–2005
Theater History Studies is an official journal of the takes approximately four months. The journal does
Mid- America Theatre Conference, Inc. (MATC). not normally accept studies of dramatic literature
The conference encompasses the states of Illinois, unless there is a focus on actual production and per-
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mis- formance. Authors whose manuscripts are accepted
souri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and must provide the editor with an electronic file, using
Wisconsin. Its purposes are to unite people and or- Microsoft Word. Illustrations (preferably high- quality
ganizations within this region and elsewhere who originals or black- and- white glossies) are welcomed.
have an interest in theatre and to promote the growth Manuscripts will be returned only if accompanied
and development of all forms of theatre. by a stamped, self-a ddressed envelope bearing suffi-
cient postage.
President
Mary Cutler This publication is issued annually by the Mid-
America Theatre Conference and The University of
1st Vice President Alabama Press.
Ann Haugo, Illinois State University
Subscription rates for 2010 are $15 for individuals,
2nd Vice President, Conference Planner $30 for institutions, and an additional $8 for foreign
Scott Magelssen, Bowling Green State University delivery. Back issues are $29.95 each. Subscription
orders and changes of address should be directed to
Associate Conference Planner Allie Harper, The University of Alabama Press, Box
John Fletcher, Louisiana State University 870380, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (205- 348- 1564 phone,
205- 348- 9201 fax).
Secretary
Kathy Privatt, Lawrence University Theatre History Studies is indexed in Humanities
Index, Humanities Abstracts, Book Review Index,
Treasurer MLA International Bibliography, International Bib­
Jennifer Blackmer, Ball State University liography of Theatre, Arts & Humanities Citation In­
dex, IBZ International Bibliography of Periodical Lit­
erature, and IBR International Bibliography of Book
Theatre History Studies is devoted to research in Reviews, the database of International Index to the
all areas of theatre history. Manuscripts should be Performing Arts. Full texts of essays appear in the
prepared in conformity with the guidelines estab- databases of both Humanities Abstracts Full Text
lished in the Chicago Manual of Style, and emailed and SIRS. The journal has published its own index,
to [email protected], or submitted in dupli cate, The Twenty Year Index, 1981–2000. It is available for
and sent to Rhona Justice- Malloy, Editor, Dept. of $10 for individuals and $15 for libraries from Rhona
Theatre Arts, 110 Isom Hall, University of Missis- Justice- Malloy, Editor, Dept. of Theatre Arts, Isom
sippi, Box 1848, University, MS 38677- 1848. Consult- Hall 110, University of Mississippi, Box 1848, Univer-
ing editors review the manuscripts, a process that sity, MS 38677–1848.

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations {ix}
Preface {xi}
Poor “Black” Theatre: Mid- America Theatre Conference Keynote Address,
March 7, 2009 {1}
—E. PATRICk JOHNSON
Hit- and- Run Theatre: The Rise of a New Dramatic Form in Zimbabwe {14}
—PRAISE ZENENgA
Abject No More: Authority and Authenticity in the Theatrical Career
of Rose McClendon {42}
—CHERYL BLACk
How Does the Show Go On? Theatre for Development in
Post- election Kenya {65}
—CHRISTOPHER CONNELLY
The Unreported Miracle of Paul Robeson and The Miracle {73}
—FELICIA HARDISON LONDRé
Mvett Performance: Retention, Reinvention, and Exaggeration in
Remembering the Past {83}
—MBALA D. NkANgA
{ v }
CONTENTS
“You Hip to Buffalo?” The Hidden Heritage of Black Theatre in
Western New York {102}
—VIRgINIA ANDERSON
Masculine Women, Feminist Men: Assertions and Contradictions in
Mawugbe’s In the Chest of a Woman {122}
—AwO MANA ASIEDU
Understanding Paul Robeson’s Soviet Experience {138}
—LAUREN MCCONNELL
Ota the Other: An African on Display in America {154}
—JOCELYN L. BUCkNER
Oteller and Desdemonum: Defining Nineteenth- Century Blackness {176}
—ANDREw CARLSON
“Looking at One’s Self through the Eyes of Others”: Representations of the
Progressive Era Middle Class in W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Star of Ethiopia {187}
—REBECCA HEwETT
Knowing Their Place: The Ulster Lyric Theatre, the Lyric Theatre,
and the Northern Irish Theatre Scene {202}
—ROY CONNOLLY
Thinking about the Theatre—and Theatre Critics: An Interview with Robert
Brustein, Conducted by Bert Cardullo, New York City, July 2008 {220}
—BERT CARDULLO
BOOK REvIEWS
Rhonda Blair, The Actor, Image, and Action: Acting and Cognitive Neuroscience
REVIEwED BY ADRIANNE ADDERLEY {235}
Bud Coleman and Judith A. Sebesta, eds., Women in Ameri can Musical
Theatre
REVIEwED BY TERRY BERLINER {237}
Thomas Alan King, The Gendering of Men, 1600–1750. vol. 2, Queer Articulations
REVIEwED BY SCOTT S. BOSTON {240}
{ vi }
CONTENTS
William W. Demastes, Spalding Gray’s America
REVIEwED BY JOHAN CALLENS {242}
Anne Fletcher, Rediscovering Mordecai Gorelik: Scene Design and
the Ameri can Theatre
REVIEwED BY JONATHAN CHAMBERS {244}
Barbara Wallace Grossman, A Spectacle of Suffering: Clara Morris on
the Ameri can Stage
REVIEwED BY ANNE FLETCHER {247}
M. Susan Anthony, Gothic Plays and Ameri can Society, 1794–1830
REVIEwED BY DIANE LONg HOEVELER {249}
Cathy Turner and Synne K. Behrndt, Dramaturgy and Performance
REVIEwED BY VALLERI J. HOHMAN {251}
Diana Taylor and Sarah J. Townsend, eds., Stages of Conflict:
A Critical Anthology of Latin Ameri can Theater and Performance
REVIEwED BY JORgE HUERTA {254}
Anne Fliotsos and Wendy vierow, Ameri can Women Stage Directors
of the Twentieth Century
REVIEwED BY MEgAN SANBORN JONES {256}
Elina Gertsman, ed., Visualizing Medieval Performance:
Perspectives, Histories, Contexts
REVIEwED BY DARIN kERR {259}
Laurence Senelick, ed., Theatre Arts on Acting
REVIEwED BY DAVID kRASNER {262}
Scott K. Taylor, Honor and Violence in Golden Age Spain
REVIEwED BY HUgH k. LONg {264}
Leigh Clemons, Branding Texas: Performing Culture in the Lone Star State
REVIEwED BY ERIC LOVE {267}
Toril Moi, Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism
REVIEwED BY JOE MARTIN {269}
{ vii }
CONTENTS
Marc Robinson, The Ameri can Play, 1787–2000
REVIEwED BY HEATHER S. NATHANS {272}
Philip C. Kolin, ed., The Influence of Tennessee Williams:
Essays on Fifteen Ameri can Playwrights
REVIEwED BY ELIZABETH A. OSBORNE {275}
Marc Maufort and Caroline de Wagter, eds., Signatures of the Past:
Cultural Memory in Contemporary Anglophone North Ameri can Drama
REVIEwED BY BARBARA OZIEBLO {277}
Melissa Sihra, ed., Women in Irish Drama:
A Century of Authorship and Representation
REVIEwED BY w. DOUgLAS POwERS {280}
Christopher Bigsby, ed., The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson
REVIEwED BY SANDRA SHANNON {282}
Miranda Lundskaer- Nielsen, Directors and the New Musical Drama:
British and Ameri can Musical Theatre in the 1980s and 90s
REVIEwED BY BRYAN M. VANDEVENDER {286}
Sharon Friedman, ed., Feminist Theatrical Revisions of Classic Works
REVIEwED BY SARA L. wARNER {288}
Robin G. Wilder and Jackson Bryer, eds., The Selected Letters
of Thornton Wilder
REVIEwED BY CHRISTOPHER J. wHEATLEY {290}
Milly S. Barranger, Unfriendly Witnesses:
Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era
REVIEwED BY BARRY wITHAM {293}
Books Received {297}
Contributors {299}
{ viii }
ILLUSTR ATIONS
ZENENgA
Figure 1. Untitled play in the Gazza and Cherima areas, 2007 {19}
Figure 2. Hit- and- run theatre performance in working- class residential
area, 2007 {21}
Figure 3. Savannah Arts Trust blames national and local authorities for
corruption resulting in an outbreak of cholera, 2007 {23}
Figure 4. Hit- and- run artists fake a heated argument, 2007 {27}
Figure 5. Hit- and- run artists disguise themselves, 2007 {29}
Figure 6. Hit- and- run artists educate young audiences, 2007 {30}
Figure 7. A rare rural hit- and- run performance, 2007 {32}
Figure 8. Audience at rare rural hit- and- run performance, 2007 {33}
BLACk
Figure 1. Rose McClendon in Deep River, 1926 {49}
NkANgA
Figure 1. Aloys Mezui Me Ndong performing in Libreville {85}
Figure 2. Main aba in the center of Oyem City {85}
Figure 3. A performance by Elam Assemane in Oyem {97}
Figure 4. Aloys Mezui Me Ndong performing {98}
ANDERSON
Figure 1. African village performance, Pan Ameri can Exposition of 1901 {107}
Figure 2. Rev. J. Edward Nash and James A. Ross at the Negro Exhibit {107}
Figure 3. The Gazetteer and Guide {108}
Figure 4. Women with marionettes {111}
{ ix }