Penumbra: The Premier Stage for African American Drama

233 Pages·2013·3.281 MB·English

by  Macelle Mahala

PENUMBRA
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A
R
THE PREMIER STAGE
FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN
B
DRAMA
M
U Macelle Mahala
Foreword by Lou Bellamy
N
E
P
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
The University of Minnesota Press gratefully acknowledges
financial assistance provided for the publication of this book
from the Givens Foundation for African American Literature.
A version of chapter 3 was previously published as Macelle Mahala, “Black
Nativity as Valence of Cultural Survival,” Theatre Topics 21, no. 1 (2011): 11–20;
copyright 2011 The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Copyright 2013 by Macelle Mahala
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mahala, Macelle.
Penumbra : the premier stage for African American drama / Macelle
Mahala ; foreword by Lou Bellamy.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8166-8374-1 (hc : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8166-8378-9 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Penumbra Theatre Company (St. Paul, Minn.)—History. 2. African
American theater—History. 3. Theater—Minnesota—St. Paul—History—
20th century. 4. American drama—African American authors—History
and criticism. 5. American drama—20th century—History and criticism.
6. American drama—21st century—History and criticism. I. Title.
PN2277.S25P46 2013
792.089'960730776581—dc23
2013018888
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to the memory
of the following Penumbra Theatre Company members:
Benny S. Cannon
Tia Mann-Evans
Kathryn Gagnon
Mazi Johnson
Rebecca Rice
Claude Purdy
August Wilson
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CONTENTS
foreword Lou Bellamy ix
introduction xi
1
Beginnings 1
2
Building a Repertoire and an Ensemble 21
3
Black Nativity 43
4
Dynamic Reciprocity: August Wilson
and Penumbra 59
5
Black Feminist Performance 81
6
Intercultural Collaborations 117
7
Maintaining a Legacy 143
production history of the
penumbra theatre company 163
acknowledgments 173
notes 175
index 191
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FOREWORD
Lou Bellamy
T
his book is the first comprehensive study of
Penumbra Theatre Company, the largest and generally considered
most influential African American theatre company in the United
States. Macelle Mahala’s familiarity with the theatre and its program-
ming as an August Wilson Fellow at the University of Minnesota
allowed her to access archives, conduct individual interviews, and
witness productions: she brings those experiences to bear effectively
in this book. She not only discusses programming and productions,
but she also places the theatre’s history in the context of African
American cultural expression, community building and definition,
and community responsibility.
Penumbra is a professional theatre within a community. With
its mission of using art for social change, the theatre is innovative in
its programming. Production choices eschew many more popular
and commercial projects in favor of plays that speak to particular
national and community needs. The style of acting, contextualiza-
tion of the drama, ensemble approach, and presentation created to
speak culturally to African Americans especially are unique features
of this theatre. Penumbra uses drama to engage its community in
conversation. The theatre was founded on the tenets of the Black
Arts movement and continues to be informed by those mandates.
Penumbra: The Premier Stage for African American Drama calls atten-
tion to the ways in which the theatre’s mission has evolved and dis-
tinctly places that evolution into larger socioeconomic contexts. The
evolution has been marked by fits and starts as well as by large shifts
in style and programming. Mahala’s study clearly presents an alive
ix