Difference between Black Theatre and African American Theatre

Black Theatre

Black theatre is for black people, about black people, concerned with black concerns and black communities. African-American theatre is also about black people but not exclusively, for one of its concerns is building bridges to other communities, as Taylor points out. Parks, on the other hand, emphasizes the black experience in her article, describing its uniqueness, including a bit about Yo and Momma trapped atop their house which is literally underwater—a literal allusion to Hurricane Katrina and a figurative allusion to the indebtedness and upside-down mortgages that plague black people who are preyed upon by predatory lenders.

I agree with both authors. Park says “I am much more interested in the questions—and more questions—that these questions set off. What are these questions about?” when she talks about black theatre and acting black. Here whole article is a question about being black: it is humorous, complicated, alive, fresh, inviting, not afraid of being itself. There is an identity within it—even though nothing is clearly defined. The entire article is more like an example of black theatre than it is a definition. The fact is that black theatre cannot simply be defined in just a few words or more except for in a very academic way. For a genuine artist, however, it is better to show than to try to define.