Since the early 1800s, African Americans have created works for the stage that speak to their unique experience. The African Grove Company, American Negro Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company, New Federal Theatre, St. Louis Black Rep, Crossroads and others have all written chapters in the history of American Theatre. Seattle also has a rich Black theatrical tradition that includes companies such as the Negro Repertory Company, Negro Ensemble, Black Arts West, Paul Robeson Theatre, and the Group Theatre. Now is the time for the Hansberry Project.

The Hansberry Project is rooted in the convictions that black artists should be at the center of the artistic process, that the community deserves excellence in its art, and that theatre’s fundamental function is to put people in relationship to one another. Our goal is to create a theatre where the entire community can be enriched by the voices of professional Black artists, reflecting autonomous concerns, investigations, dreams, and artistic expression.

Seattle is a vibrant city with a dynamic African American community, a burgeoning and successful Black audience, and wonderful Black theatre artists. The time is urgent for a professional artistic entity that gives primacy to the African American voice and perspective: created and run by African American artists and producers, guided by their cultural vision, operated in a premiere venue and fully supported financially. The Hansberry Project serves this purpose and continues a legacy of authentic voices for the expression of the African American experience within Seattle’s rich and respected regional theatre community.

In the Press

 

 

A Contemporary Theatre