African American Drama & Dramatists

The first African American play to be produced on Broadway was "The Chip Woman's Fortune" in 1923, written by Willis Richardson.

In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry became the first Black woman to have a play produced on Broadway, with "A Raisin in the Sun." Since that time there has been a steady production of plays by African American artists who often bring their own personal experiences in the struggle against racial discrimination to the literature they produce.

August Wilson, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes, is considered by many to be the country's outstanding playwright. In addition, Anna Deaver Smith has won critical attention with her "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992", based on city residents after the 1992 riot.

During the last 30 years three African Americans have won the Pulitzer Prize for drama: Charles Gordone, for "No Place to be Somebody," Charles Fuller, for "A Soldier's Story," and August Wilson.

Sources for the study African American drama and dramatists