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Title details for Readying the Revolution by Jonathan Shandell - Available

Readying the Revolution

African American Theater and Performance from Post-World War II to the Black Arts Movement

by Jonathan Shandell
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Starting in 1966, African American activist Stokely Carmichael and other political leaders adopted the phrase "Black Power!" The slogan captured a militant, revolutionary spirit that was already emerging in the work of playwrights, poets, musicians, and visual artists throughout the Black Arts movement of the mid-1960s. But the story of those theater artists and performers whose work helped bring about the Black Arts revolution has not fully been told. Readying the Revolution: African American Theater and Performance from Post-World War II to the Black Arts Movement explores the dynamic era of Black culture between the end of World War II and the start of the Black Arts Movement (1946-1964) by illuminating how artists and innovators such as Jackie Robinson, Lorraine Hansberry, Ossie Davis, Nina Simone, and others helped radicalize Black culture and Black political thought. In doing so, these artists defied white cultural hegemony in the United States, and built the foundation for the revolutionary movement in Black theater that followed in the mid 1960s. Through archival research, close textual reading, and an analysis of performance artifacts, Shandell demonstrates how these artists negotiated a space on the public stage for cultivating radical Black aesthetics and built the foundation for the revolutionary movement in Black theater that followed in the mid-1960s.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Theater: Theory/Text/Performance

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 14, 2025

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780472904808

    • Open EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780472904808
      • File size: 1550 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 13, 2024

      Before the Black Arts Movement in the mid-1960s, African American playwrights and innovators created works that radicalized Black culture and political beliefs. Shandell (theater arts, Arcadia Univ.; The American Negro Theatre and the Long Civil Rights Era) highlights the productions and performances of major and lesser-known plays in this analytical yet concise book. Before becoming an Oscar-nominated movie actress, Beah Richards (then using her birth name, Beulah Richardson) staged plays about capitalist oppression and Black women's empowerment. Lorraine Hansberry's posthumously produced play Les Blancs was written in 1960 as a response to a condescending and stereotypical play written by a white French playwright about Black Americans. Post-WWII works from Alice Childress and William Branch spoke of liberation and armed resistance. Additional chapters about Jackie Robinson and Nina Simone demonstrate revolutionary Black expression pre-Black Arts Movement. Shandell uses scholarly articles and archived interviews to examine each piece. While his critical analysis of the plays strengthens his argument, the chapters on Robinson and Simone read more like opinion pieces. In these chapters, instead of letting their lives and works stand on their own, Shandell unnecessarily inputs his viewpoints. VERDICT Shandell deftly uses a 21st-century lens to identify specific plays with progressive thought. Theater professors, students, and enthusiasts should take note.--Anjelica Rufus-Barnes

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • Open EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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