5 Historically Black Theatres You Should Know
Table Of Content
To be a premiere professional theatre producing socially relevant entertainment, while delivering innovative, culturally responsive arts education programs for life-long learners. To produce professional theatre, provide arts education and present community programs for all people while honoring the Black experience. In the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, neighborhood settlement Karamu House has stood since 1915 as a symbol of community and artistic innovation. Founded as the Neighborhood Association, but most commonly known as the Playhouse Settlement, the space was created by two white social workers, Rowen and Russell Jelliffe, who sought out to produce plays with interracial casts for the community. With the support of the Second Presbyterian Church, they began these productions in 1917. Most importantly, addressing the issues people of color have experienced by communicating through art, has demonstrated the importance of these problems.
Karamu Arts Classes
Karamu during the 1920s and 1940s was an influential forum for exploring racial themes that defied racial biases and amplified (or elevated) Black people’s perspectives. This formative period fulfilled the Jelliffes’ dream to set the stage for Karamu to remain an essential Cleveland institution. Karamu House offers a variety of arts education programming in facilitated and on-demand virtual course offerings. Additionally, Karamu offers online corporate training programs for diversity, racial and equity inclusion programming..
Cleveland's Newest Asian-Owned Restaurants Await
Although Karamu experienced great success, unfortunately, Karamu House burned down in 1939. Western Reserve University (now CWRU) offered the use of their Eldred Theater for Karamu’s actors and actresses to perform in. This was an enormous help to Karamu, because its art produced at that time would not be lost.
- Cleveland
In 2016, Karamu laid off 15 staffers, including longtime artistic director Terrence Spivey, in a dramatic cost-cutting move. Shortly thereafter, the IRS revoked Karamu’s precious tax-exempt status, saying it had not received a tax return from the nonprofit for three consecutive years. Since its opening, LHT has produced over 135 plays and musicals from the classics to experimental works. Continuing on Hansberry’s values for inclusivity, LHT prioritizes the work of Black and femme-identifying playwrights. Lorraine Hansberry became the first Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway when her play A Raisin in the Sun premiered in 1959. The young playwright died in 1965 from pancreatic cancer, leaving behind an unforgettable legacy that is honored across the country, especially with the establishment of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT) in San Francisco’s theatre district in 1981.
History
In 1920 they sponsored the Dumas Dramatic Club, which was renamed the Gilpin Players, after the noted black actor Charles Gilpin in 1922. A theater was acquired adjacent to the settlement in 1927 and named "Karamu," Swahili for "a place of joyful meeting," a name adopted by the entire settlement in 1941. In the 1930s the Gilpin Players established a collaboration with Karamu alumnus LANGSTON HUGHES, giving premieres of several of his plays. In 1940 a modern dance troupe from Karamu trained by Marjorie Witt Johnson won the praise of Life magazine for its appearance at the New York World's Fair.
It Happened in Atlanta
Harlem became the largest American urban area to be predominantly Black, and African Americans wished to change their identity and be free from racial oppression. People who performed in the Harlem Renaissance included Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, and Langston Hughes, among many others. Because of the Great Depression, unfortunately, the Harlem Renaissance came to an end, but its influence persisted. Actress Minnie Gentry, Terrence Howard’s grandmother, also performed on the stages here. Even Emmy and Grammy award winner Robert Guillaume, of the TV show Benson, graced the stages along with Cleveland native James Pickens Jr., from Grey’s Anatomy, and the great actress, poet and playwright, Ruby Dee. Hughes, known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance, had a special relationship with the theater and the Gilpin Players, who produced many of his plays.
Karamu also announced the reopening of its newly renovated Arena Theatre on October 13. The 100-seat venue will be used for special programming and arts education performances. Founded in 1915, Karamu House is a place of joyful gathering (the meaning of ‘Karamu” in Swahili), where people from different races, religions, and economic backgrounds come together through the arts. Recognized as the oldest, producing African American theatre in the nation, Karamu House is continually cited as one of Cleveland’s top four treasures—and featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture and listed on the U.S.
Spearheading change
Phase two is nearing completion, which will feature a new Black Box Theater; a Bistro and an outdoor stage, all expected to be completed in May. Sias hoped that the production would promote healing, education, and activism in the form of voter registration and other types of civic engagement. The guest book at Karamu reads like a Who’s Who of writers, dancers, actors and producers, the most notable of which was Langston Hughes. CLEVELAND, Ohio – Nestled in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood, just east of Downtown in the shadow of the Cleveland Clinic, sits Karamu House. Hosted on Tuesdays and Thursday schools and organizations receive a tour and workshop on the history of Karamu.
Neighborhoods
‘Clyde’s’ at Karamu House will make you laugh, think and crave a good sandwich - cleveland.com
‘Clyde’s’ at Karamu House will make you laugh, think and crave a good sandwich.
Posted: Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Among notable performers who refined their craft at Karamu and later found success on Broadway, in Hollywood, and at stages and concert halls throughout the world were Ruby Dee, Ron O'Neal, Robert Guillaume, and Imani Hakim. One of the most treasured of Karamu's productions was the annual holiday presentation of "Black Nativity," a play by Langston Hughes. Day celebration and encouraged a candid public discussion of relevant issues in "talk-back sessions" preceding select performances. Karamu House plays host to a variety of community programs throughout the year that are designed to engage all members of the community while providing arts experiences that honor Black culture. This is a collection of Karamu House photographs from the Cleveland Press Collection and others, showcasing the settlement's activities, including the theatrical productions, as well as a collection of WPA art produced at Karamu and collected by Russell and Rowena Jelliffe.
Karamu House provides arts education to hundreds of children and adults each year during the fall, spring and summer semesters. The Karamu Arts Academy includes classes and lessons for children and adults, alike, in drama and theatre, vocal performance and music, dance, and more. For decades, Karamu House has created long-lasted partnerships with local school districts from around the Northeast Ohio area to enhance the schools’ arts programming—through field trips to workshops to customized arts education programs.
Dancers, printmakers, actors, and writers all found a place where they could practice their crafts. The Jelliffes held high standards of excellence in the arts, not for the sake of excellence, but because they knew that pursuing excellence makes the greatest demands on the individual to fulfill the promise of his potential. The Playhouse Settlement became an active contributor to the Harlem Renaissance, and Langston Hughes roamed the Settlement’s halls constantly. The first stop of Raisin in the Sun off of Broadway was right on this stage, said Sias. Famous people like Muhammed Ali was one of many who enjoyed the countless performances. Rechristened the “Playhouse Settlement,” it quickly became a magnet for some of the best African-American artists of the day -- actors, dancers, printmakers and writers all found a place where they could practice their crafts.
Oatman’s script allows us to journey through these choices and have fun along the way. Former Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes, the first black elected mayor of a major city, donated his personal memorabilia to Karamu before he passed away in 1996. During the Great Depression the federal art project allowed visual artists like William E. Smith, Elmer Brown, and Cleveland’s Charles Sallee to develop their skills and teach at the theater. Artists like the great playwright, novelist and poet, Langston Hughes, got his start at Karamu. “Karamu House as a cultural arts institution allowed African-Americans to present themselves in an authentic way and we weren’t the caricatures that quite often mainstream presented ourselves, really changing the image of who we were perceived as,” expressed Sias. From Tarell Alvin McCraney, the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, the play tells the story of Pharus, a talented singer, but an outsider at his prep school struggling to fit in among the other boys on the institution’s prestigious gospel choir.
People of color have survived a myriad of terrible experiences, despite our American proclamations of commitment to equality. Karamu, offered its audiences, who are people of all backgrounds, to see the integration of African Americans through art. Most importantly, plays produced by Karamu were salient in their contributions to give black people freedom of expression and produce offerings from a Black person’s perspective. Such artistic contributions demonstrate to the public the truth of the reality of black people’s lives and their humility, suffering, and discrimination.
Comments
Post a Comment