In partnership with ACT, the Hansberry Project produces a mainstage show, workshops, and other events each season. 

Productions

The Hansberry Project presents plays during ACT’s mainstage season featuring both classic works from the African American canon, and new works by emerging and established playwrights. Through our mainstage productions, the Hansberry Project seeks to provide consistent opportunities for the community to participate in theatre that presents a myriad of images that are representative of the Black Experience and build bridges between generations.

The diversity in our programming allows us to empower African American artists, speaking on a range of themes and working in a variety of styles from realism to hip-hop and beyond.

Past Hansberry Project productions.

Readings and Workshops

To establish the Hansberry Project at ACT as a place for playwrights, facilitate the development of high quality work, and support the emergence of new voices, The Hansberry Project hosts a series of readings and workshops.

Play readings and workshops allow playwrights to continue the process of readying their work for production and range from one-day readings to week-long workshops. Each project concludes with a public reading.

Revival readings of Black “classics” honor the rich African American theatrical tradition by introducing important playwrights to audiences unfamiliar with their bodies of work. These important but un-produced or under-produced performance projects provide a focal point for critical discussions of the plays, their themes and subject matter. These works speak on a range of themes and in a variety of styles, and they highlight the significance of African Americans to the American theatrical landscape.