Lorraine Hansberry News

Women have always played an important role on and behind our stages. It’s about time we talk about them.

[hieroglyph] traverses the intersection of environmental racism, sexual violence, and displacement, examining the psychological effects of a state-sanctioned man-made disaster on the most vulnerable members of the Katrina diaspora. This work is part of award-winning playwright Dickerson-Despenza’s planned 10-play Katrina Cycle of plays focused on the effects of Hurricane Katrina in and beyond New Orleans.

What happens to a dream deferred? In the South Side of Chicago, a poor black family struggles to stay afloat as they search for financial stability and a place to call home. Tensions flare as the generations reach for different dreams and prejudice seeps into their lives.

Following multiple sold-out performances of its acclaimed production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, 

When Lorraine Hansberry Theatre announced last September that Bay Area theatre luminary Margo Hall had been appointed as its first female Artistic Director, it felt like a promise of good things to come. Six months later, the venerable company is back up and running full steam ahead with its first staged production since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s [hieroglyph], available to stream on-demand March 13th through April 3rd. Hall directed this as a co-production with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s long-time collaborator San Francisco Playhouse, and would seem to be the perfect director to bring it to life. Dickerson-Despenza is a Tow Playwright-in-Residence at New York’s Public Theater who centers her writings on Black women’s land legacies and distinct experiences of environmental racism. Telling the raw, honest story of a 13-year-old girl struggling Post-Hurricane Katrina, wrestling with being displaced to a new city while secretly coping with the PTSD of an assault at the Superdome, [hieroglyph] is part of Dickerson-Despenza’s 10-play Katrina cycle focused on the effects of Hurricane Katrina and its state-sanctioned, man-made disaster rippling in & beyond New Orleans. Hall describes the play as “tragically beautiful.” Patrons may support the organization of their choice by purchasing tickets from Lorraine Hansberry Theatre at lhtsf.org or from San Francisco Playhouse at sfplayhouse.org. BroadwayWorld spoke with Hall last week, just as she was preparing to meet her cast in person for the first time after weeks of Zoom rehearsals. Speaking to her, I got the distinct impression of someone who is exactly where she needs to be right now. This may be her first stint as an artistic director, but in so many ways she has been preparing for this role her entire life. Her decades of experience as an actor, director, playwright, professor and activist all coalesce to serve her in her new role. We talked about her hopes to expand Hansberry’s purview, the need to create culturally-specific theatre, and the exigencies of producing theatre and TV (she is also acting in the new “Blindspotting” series!) during Covid times. Throughout our conversation, I was struck by the sheer joy she exudes for making theatre and for finding herself in a place where she can create new opportunities for Black theatre artists.

In celebration of International Women's Day, Disney on Broadway announces free registration, programming, and participants for the 4th annual 'Women's Day on Broadway' virtual event on Friday, March 12, 2021, beginning at 1 pm EST. 

Through our Women in Theatre Through the Decades features, we will be highlighting the vital role that women have played in theatre history, showcasing those who paved the way and who continue to make history today. 

A new video has been released from Slave Play, and its playwright, Jeremy O. Harris, called 'Notes on Style.'

'The Vanishing Half' centers on identical twin sisters who run away from their small, southern Black community at age 16. As adults, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different, it’s everything: their families, their communities, the essence of who they are.

Today (February 22) in live streaming: Santino Fontana sings with Seth Rudetsky, Patrick Page takes on Shakespeare's villains, and more!

The Group Rep pulls the curtain back on UNHIDDEN FIGURES a virtual play festival of new short plays celebrating African-American women from all walks of life.

[hieroglyph] will be fully produced and filmed on stage at San Francisco Playhouse, presented as an on-demand video stream from March 13th through April 3rd, 2021.

Theatre would not be theatre without the efforts of Black artists, and it’s important to learn about their impact on the industry. In honor of Black History Month, here is a timeline of theatre milestones achieved by Black professionals. 

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced the launch of its new Commissioning and Fellowship Program, welcoming returning director Jade King Carroll as Resident Artist, who will design and oversee this program in collaboration with Artistic Director Dina Janis. Carroll will also work with Janis in producing the Festival’s new StageFree Audio Plays.

Central Florida audiences will have the opportunity to see Hansberry’s masterpiece on the Garden Theatre stage as part of the theatre’s 13th season. Directed by Roberta Emerson, the production will play a limited run March 3 - 14, 2021.  

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts, in partnership with Eastville Community Historical Society and the Southampton African American Museum, is pleased to announce the online world premiere of In Case You Hadn't Heard: A Conversation Between America's Past And Its Promise, a provocative view of race in America, on Monday, February 22, at 8 p.m. EST at baystreet.org.

Today we're learning all about ground-breaking African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry- best known as the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway.

'Slave Play' playwright Jeremy O. Harris appeared on 'The Daily Show With Trevor Noah' last night to talk about his Tony Award-nominated play, the ways he's trying to keep theatre alive, and what he's been up to in the pandemic.

Hattiloo Theatre has announced Say It Loud, a free virtual Black History speech series. The series will run from February 2, 2021.

The lights of Broadway have been dark for almost a year, and Jeremy O. Harris knows it. 'The theater industry – like most of the arts – is in a state of crisis,' the playwright writes in an opinion piece.