In honor of Black History Month, Suite 101 Theatre concludes its look around the net at a number of sites devoted to African-American theatre, its creators, performers, and historians. (This is by no means intended to be a fully comprehensive survey, and the omission of a site is no reflection of its quality or value.)
As part of Catch-a-Fire - "the Net's First Black Web Station," ColorCasting - A Virtual Theatre Experience is representative some of the incredible innovation we've all been led to expect from the net (but rarely find). In the "Black Box Theatre" you can read the complete text of If Eve Left..., a short play by playwright t. tara turk. You can also read and listen Shockwaved excerpts from Cecelia Antoinette's "choreopoem," Brown Gals' Rising. And the "Casting" portion of its title is not just noise, a portion of the site actually is devoted to providing exposure to artists of color. The interface is fairly simple and straightforward -- you are presented with thumbnail shots of actors by sex and/or age, and clicking on the thumbnail brings up a new page with a larger version of the thumbnail and a resume. Access may also be provided (depending on which package the actor purchased) to additional photos and even to voice-over samples. The photos have been scanned and processed at a resolution that manages to make for quick downloading and onscreen beauty. The list of participating actors is currently very short, but they're currently running a special that can reap the actor some free months based on the length of their subscription. A beautifully designed site.
And finally, from Angola to Zimbabwe, the French site, Guide to Theatre in Africa and the Indian Ocean, provides access to a massive database of information about theatre activities based in countries on the African continent. According to its creators, the "publication covers all the French, English, Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the "near" Indian Ocean - a total of 48 countries including one French overseas 'département,' the Island of Reunion." This massive undertaking presents the results of questionnaires and other inquiries compiled with the help of many French and African agencies, as well as local resources, and results in nearly 1200 references. Most of the Guide is presented in both French and English (although the deeper you burrow the more apparent its French roots become).
The Guide is broken into four main areas: theatre groups and companies, venues, festivals and events, and producers of theatre. A link to each area links to a page of further links, broken down by country. Within each country's link are links directly to database entries for each group or individual, which may contain a great deal of detail or little -- based on whatever information was provided at the time of publication.
The only negatives regarding the site are the lack of links directly to sites maintained by the subjects of the databases (although, granted, the number of actual sites may be small), and that the database is currently only as of May 30, 1996. One hopes to see continued development on the site. Until then it remains the only and most complete, albeit potentially outdated, database of major theatrical endeavors in Africa.
C U @ the theatre -- go see a show!
Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 2/24/98
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