{"product_id":"black-theater-city-life-macelle-mahala-9780810145146","title":"Black Theater, City Life: African American Art Institutions and Urban Cultural Ecologies","description":"Macelle Mahala's rich study of contemporary African American theater institutions reveals how they reflect and shape the histories and cultural realities of their cities. Arguing that the community in which a play is staged is as important to the work's meaning as the script or set, Mahala focuses on four cities' \"arts ecologies\" to shed new light on the unique relationship between performance and place: Cleveland, home to the oldest continuously operating Black theater in the country; Pittsburgh, birthplace of the legendary playwright August Wilson; San Francisco, a metropolis currently experiencing displacement of its Black population; and Atlanta, a city with forty years of progressive Black leadership and reverse migration. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlack Theater, City Life\u003c\/i\u003e looks at Karamu House Theatre, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburgh Playwrights' Theatre Company, the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, the African American Shakespeare Company, the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, and Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company to demonstrate how each organization articulates the cultural specificities, sociopolitical realities, and histories of African Americans. These companies have faced challenges that mirror the larger racial and economic disparities in arts funding and social practice in America, while their achievements exemplify such institutions' vital role in enacting an artistic practice that reflects the cultural backgrounds of their local communities. Timely, significant, and deeply researched, this book spotlights the artistic and civic import of Black theaters in American cities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Macelle Mahala\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0810145146\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780810145146\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Northwestern University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/15\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.98w x 0.79d","brand":"Macelle Mahala","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44059798143231,"sku":"9780810145146","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a8cd0db5-71c0-402f-8df6-7fc78c1a7f60.jpg?v=1685060399","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/black-theater-city-life-macelle-mahala-9780810145146","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}