'Post-black' refers to an emerging trend within black arts to find new
and multiple expressions of blackness, unburdened by the social and
cultural expectations of blackness of the past and moving beyond the
conventional binary of black and white.
Reflecting this multiplicity of perspectives, the plays in this
collection explode the traditional ways of representing black families
on the American stage, and create new means to consider the interplay of
race, with questions of class, gender, and sexuality. They engage and
critique current definitions of black and African-American identity, as
well as previous limitations placed on what constitutes blackness and
black theatre.
Written by the emerging stars of American theatre such as Eisa Davis and
Marcus Gardley, the plays explore themes as varied as family and
individuality, alienation and gentrification, and reconciliation and
belonging. They demonstrate a wide-range of formal and structural
innovations for the American theatre, and reflect the important ways in
which contemporary playwrights are expanding the American dramatic canon
with new and diverse means of representation.
Edited by two leading US scholars in black drama, Harry J. Elam Jr
(Stanford) and Douglas A. Jones Jr (Princeton), this cutting edge
anthology gathers together some of the most exciting new American plays,
selected by a rigorous academic backbone and explored in depth by
supporting critical material.
