New NYU theater to honor the 1st Black theater in America

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New Theater at NYU Named 'The African Grove Theatre' to Honor a Landmark of Black Theater History​

Jun. 9, 2022

NYU's 181 Mercer Street building, opening spring 2023, will become home to a permanent and evolving memorial to the African Grove Theatre, the first Black theater in the country that made history on the corner of Mercer and Bleecker Streets in 1821.
A new theater-built on the footprint of the original-will be named "The African Grove Theatre" and be used for NYU Tisch School of the Arts' acclaimed Graduate Acting and Design for Stage and Film programs. The space will offer ongoing theatrical performance, historical displays, educational programming, and teaching and learning opportunities to promote the groundbreaking legacy of the original African Grove Theatre as a beacon for Black artists and performers-an impact that still has immense resonance today.
The theater is one of several performance spaces in the Mercer Street building offering state-of-the-art facilities for student productions in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
"The NYU community has its roots in the collective histories of New York City and is proud to call Greenwich Village home. It's crucial that we make space for the powerful stories and legacies of these Black artists; to celebrate their triumphs and travails, so that it can inspire future generations of theater makers as they continue to experiment, innovate, and elevate artistic expression at NYU and beyond for years to come. As an institution renowned for graduating some of the most visionary artists and cultural leaders of their time, we have a unique opportunity to uplift the local histories and cultural pioneers who laid the groundwork for the evolution of the performing arts from the early 1800s to today," said NYU President Andrew Hamilton.
About the African Grove Theatre
Widely considered the first Black theater in the country, the African Grove Theatre got its start when William Alexander Brown, a retired steamship steward, started hosting poetry readings, musical performances, and short plays for Black New Yorkers in his backyard at 38 Thomas Street in 1816. The "tea garden" was the only space in New York where Black patrons were allowed to enjoy leisure entertainment.
In 1821, the African Grove Theatre was expanded into a 300-seat theater in the heart of Washington Square on Bleecker and Mercer Streets. The company was known for staging Shakespearean classics performed by Black actors, ballets, comedies, and an original play written by Brown himself (The Drama of King Shotaway), drawing sizable audiences and creating a radical alternative to other American theaters of its time.
"From the very beginning, African Grove productions served as a forum for positive and revolutionary images depicting Black and indigenous life in America. Although it was only open for two years, the African Grove Theatre demonstrated a wide range of Black creative expression and offered a vision of what a national theater could be," said Michael Dinwiddie, associate professor at NYU Gallatin, theater historian, and co-chair of the Committee to Commemorate the African Grove.
"Despite the pressures of a white mob which closed the theater after only two seasons, the African Grove Theatre and its performers transformed American arts and culture, making an indelible mark on the contemporary musical theater landscape, and raised pertinent questions about audience expectations of Black art that are still relevant today," he continued.

 

[Jcotton1]

Dope. It's always good to do set construction or play in jazz band if you can in school.

 

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