Books by Jonathan Shandell
University of Michigan Press, 2024
Starting in 1966, African American activist Stokely Carmichael and other political leaders adopte... more Starting in 1966, African American activist Stokely Carmichael and other political leaders adopted the phrase "Black Power!" The slogan captured a militant, revolutionary spirit that was already emerging in the work of playwrights, poets, musicians, and visual artists throughout the Black Arts movement of the mid-1960s. But the story of those theater artists and performers whose work helped bring about the Black Arts revolution has not fully been told. Readying the Revolution: African American Theater and Performance from Post-World War II to the Black Arts Movement explores the dynamic era of Black culture between the end of World War II and the start of the Black Arts Movement (1946-1964) by illuminating how artists and innovators such as Jackie Robinson, Lorraine Hansberry, Ossie Davis, Nina Simone, and others helped radicalize Black culture and Black political thought. In doing so, these artists defied white cultural hegemony in the United States, and built the foundation for the revolutionary movement in Black theater that followed in the mid 1960s.
Through archival research, close textual reading, and an analysis of visual and aural performance artifacts, author Jonathan Shandell demonstrates how these artists negotiated a space on the public stage of the United States for cultivating radical Black aesthetic exploration and a spirit of courageous antiracist resistance. Readying the Revolution provides new insights into the activism and accomplishments of African American artists whose work helped lay the groundwork for a Black Nationalist cultural revolution, but whose influence has yet to receive its due recognition.
University of Iowa Press, 2018
Jonathan Shandell provides the first in-depth study of the historic American Negro Theatre (ANT) ... more Jonathan Shandell provides the first in-depth study of the historic American Negro Theatre (ANT) and its lasting influence on American popular culture. Founded in 1940 in Harlem, the ANT successfully balanced expressions of African American consciousness with efforts to gain white support for the burgeoning civil rights movement. The theatre company featured innovative productions with emerging artists—Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, and many others—who would become giants of stage, film, and television. In 1944, the ANT made theatrical history by creating the smash hit Anna Lucasta, the most popular play with an African American cast ever to perform on Broadway. Starting from a shoestring budget, the ANT grew into one of the most important companies in the history of African American theatre. Though the group folded in 1949, it continued to shape American popular culture through the creative work of its many talented artists.
Examining oral histories, playbills, scripts, production stills, and journalistic accounts, Shandell gives us the most complete picture to date of the theatre company by analyzing well-known productions alongside groundbreaking and now-forgotten efforts. Shedding light on this often-overlooked chapter of African American history, which fell between the New Negro Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement, Shandell reveals how the ANT became a valued community institution for Harlem—an important platform for African American artists to speak to racial issues—and a trailblazer in promoting integration and interracial artistic collaboration in the U.S. In doing so, Shandell also demonstrates how a small amateur ensemble of the 1940s succeeded in challenging, expanding, and transforming how African Americans were portrayed in the ensuing decades. The result is a fascinating and entertaining examination that will be of interest to scholars and students of African American and American studies and theatre history, as well as popular culture enthusiasts.
In the first half of the twentieth century, a number of American theatres and theatre artists fos... more In the first half of the twentieth century, a number of American theatres and theatre artists fostered interracial collaboration and socialization on stage, behind the scenes, and among audiences. In an era marked by entrenched racial segregation and inequality, these artists used performance to bridge America’s persistent racial divide and to bring African American, Latino/Latina, Asian American, Native American, and Jewish American communities and traditions into the nation’s broader cultural conversation.
Publication View. 34008358. The American Negro Theatre : staging inter-racialism in Harlem, 1940-... more Publication View. 34008358. The American Negro Theatre : staging inter-racialism in Harlem, 1940-1949 / (2006). Shandell, Jonathan. Abstract. Thesis (DFA)--Yale School of Drama, 2006.. Includes bibliographical references.. Photocopy. Publication details. ...
Chapters by Jonathan Shandell
The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre, 2012
Harold Pinter's The dumb waiter, Jan 1, 2009
... concern in this essay is with the more specific and personal uses of the second-person subjec... more ... concern in this essay is with the more specific and personal uses of the second-person subject as a means for emphasizing differences that separate Ben and Gus. Bibliography Primary Texts Pinter, Harold. The Caretaker in Harold Pinter: Plays II [1960]. London: Faber & Faber ...
Journal Articles by Jonathan Shandell
African American Review, Sep 22, 2008
Page 1. Jonathan Shandell Looking beyond Lucasta: The Black Dramas of the American Negro Theatre ... more Page 1. Jonathan Shandell Looking beyond Lucasta: The Black Dramas of the American Negro Theatre notable irony of African American theater history of the 1940s is that the decade's most influential black ensemble, the American NegroTheatre (ANT), ...
Theatre Topics, Jan 1, 2009
What possibilities for teaching African American theatre exist outside of traditional black theat... more What possibilities for teaching African American theatre exist outside of traditional black theatre courses? Beyond introductory survey courses and specialized seminars within the field, how can professors engage students in the study of African American theatre and drama in ...
American Theatre, Oct 1, 2004
Theater, Jan 1, 1999
... KYLE CHEPULIS The first was Mac Wellman's Cellophane at BACA, a little theater in Brookl... more ... KYLE CHEPULIS The first was Mac Wellman's Cellophane at BACA, a little theater in Brooklyn that no longer exists. ... With Annie Hamburger's En Garde Arts shows, I respond to the site first, and then the play, and then the director. ...
Reviews by Jonathan Shandell
Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 2012
Theatre Journal, Jan 1, 2003
(Harlem Song lovingly parodies one such group of aesthetes, in the Harlem Renaissance romp Doin&... more (Harlem Song lovingly parodies one such group of aesthetes, in the Harlem Renaissance romp Doin' the Niggerati Rag.) Just as he did in The Colored Museum and Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk, Wolfe embraces and exploits a legacy of revue-styled performance. Not only ...
Theater, Jan 1, 2001
The Long Wharf Theater advertised this fall 2000 production as A North American Pre-miere over 3... more The Long Wharf Theater advertised this fall 2000 production as A North American Pre-miere over 300 Years in the Makinga clever tag line for a truly unusual theatrical event. Their staging of The Bungler represents this continent's first live glimpse at an all-but-for-gotten early ...
Theatre Survey, Jan 1, 2007
Theatre Survey, Jan 1, 2007
Theater, Jan 1, 2003
Staging Desire is the second of a projected three-volume set that seeks to excavate the hid-den h... more Staging Desire is the second of a projected three-volume set that seeks to excavate the hid-den history of gay and lesbian artists whose work in the American theater predated the lib-eration movements sparked by the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The rst volume, Passing Perfor- ...
Theater, Jan 1, 2001
A Sourcebook of African-American Performance is a welcome, desperately needed compilation of writ... more A Sourcebook of African-American Performance is a welcome, desperately needed compilation of writings on African American theatrical per-formance from the 1960s to the 1990s. The reader who can sift through the uneven contri-butions may find the seed of an interesting topic ...
Theater, Jan 1, 2002
It's alternately comforting and creepy to know that we are never or at least never need be ... more It's alternately comforting and creepy to know that we are never or at least never need be in anything we do alone. From the Cliffs Notes on Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain to Garri-son Keillor's public-radio cute guide to life on the prairies to the oceans of hand-holding ...
Theater, Jan 1, 2000
It would have been better left to a biography of Judas Iscariot. A Traitor's Kiss is the dre... more It would have been better left to a biography of Judas Iscariot. A Traitor's Kiss is the dreadful title of Fintan O'Toole's finally eminently readable and largely satisfying biography of Sheridan. If you pick up this book expecting the typical the-atrical bio, full of fulsome anecdotes about ...
Papers by Jonathan Shandell
From the group’s first public performance in June 1940 until its collapse in late 1949 or early 1... more From the group’s first public performance in June 1940 until its collapse in late 1949 or early 1950, the American Negro Theatre (ANT) stood as Harlem’s preeminent theatrical organization. From modest beginnings (including an initial treasury of less than twenty cents), this company grew in visibility and prestige, achieving prominence both in Harlem and on Broadway, and influencing the evolution of American culture with respect to inclusion of black artists and representations of race. The ensemble achieved new heights for African American artistic autonomy and self-expression within the theater. At the same time, the ANT undertook groundbreaking interracial collaborations and advanced the cause of integration in the theater, through its frequent partnerships with white artists. The ANT’s ongoing fame derives in large part from the accomplishments and visibility achieved by many of its alumni as professional artists, following the company’s demise. Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Earle Hyman, Alice Childress, Clarice Taylor, Frederick O’Neal, William Greaves, and many others worked with ANT early in their careers—gaining experience and training that helped propel them into greater public visibility later in life. Another source of renown for the ANT was the creation of the wildly popular Anna Lucasta—which began in Harlem before transferring to a historic two-year run on Broadway, an engagement in London’s West End, and two Hollywood film adaptations. Anna Lucasta still stands as the longest-running play in Broadway history with an entirely African American cast. Despite its collapse amid financial hardships after ten years of activity, the ANT’s influence—both on African American cultural expression as well as on commercial entertainment in the United States—has been transformative and far-reaching.
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Books by Jonathan Shandell
Through archival research, close textual reading, and an analysis of visual and aural performance artifacts, author Jonathan Shandell demonstrates how these artists negotiated a space on the public stage of the United States for cultivating radical Black aesthetic exploration and a spirit of courageous antiracist resistance. Readying the Revolution provides new insights into the activism and accomplishments of African American artists whose work helped lay the groundwork for a Black Nationalist cultural revolution, but whose influence has yet to receive its due recognition.
Examining oral histories, playbills, scripts, production stills, and journalistic accounts, Shandell gives us the most complete picture to date of the theatre company by analyzing well-known productions alongside groundbreaking and now-forgotten efforts. Shedding light on this often-overlooked chapter of African American history, which fell between the New Negro Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement, Shandell reveals how the ANT became a valued community institution for Harlem—an important platform for African American artists to speak to racial issues—and a trailblazer in promoting integration and interracial artistic collaboration in the U.S. In doing so, Shandell also demonstrates how a small amateur ensemble of the 1940s succeeded in challenging, expanding, and transforming how African Americans were portrayed in the ensuing decades. The result is a fascinating and entertaining examination that will be of interest to scholars and students of African American and American studies and theatre history, as well as popular culture enthusiasts.
Chapters by Jonathan Shandell
Journal Articles by Jonathan Shandell
Reviews by Jonathan Shandell
Papers by Jonathan Shandell
Through archival research, close textual reading, and an analysis of visual and aural performance artifacts, author Jonathan Shandell demonstrates how these artists negotiated a space on the public stage of the United States for cultivating radical Black aesthetic exploration and a spirit of courageous antiracist resistance. Readying the Revolution provides new insights into the activism and accomplishments of African American artists whose work helped lay the groundwork for a Black Nationalist cultural revolution, but whose influence has yet to receive its due recognition.
Examining oral histories, playbills, scripts, production stills, and journalistic accounts, Shandell gives us the most complete picture to date of the theatre company by analyzing well-known productions alongside groundbreaking and now-forgotten efforts. Shedding light on this often-overlooked chapter of African American history, which fell between the New Negro Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement, Shandell reveals how the ANT became a valued community institution for Harlem—an important platform for African American artists to speak to racial issues—and a trailblazer in promoting integration and interracial artistic collaboration in the U.S. In doing so, Shandell also demonstrates how a small amateur ensemble of the 1940s succeeded in challenging, expanding, and transforming how African Americans were portrayed in the ensuing decades. The result is a fascinating and entertaining examination that will be of interest to scholars and students of African American and American studies and theatre history, as well as popular culture enthusiasts.