A Beautiful Pageant; African American Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance, 1910-1927

by David Krasner

• ISBN13: 9781403965417
• ISBN10: 1403965412
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2004-07-16
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The Harlem Renaissance was the Time When Harlem Came Alive with theatre, drama, sports, dance, and politics. David Krasner paints a vibrant portrait of the exciting years 1910 to 1927 and the diverse events they encompassed: the prizefight between Jack Johnson and Jim "White Hope" Jeffries; the first glimpse of new dance styles pioneered by Aida Overton Walker and Ethel Waters; the social significance of Zora Neale Hurston's play, Color Struck; and the extravagant production of Star of Ethiopia pageants that emphasized African heritage. These were the fertile years when the residents of northern Manhattan were at the vanguard of artistic ferment, leading their downtown counterparts while at the same time playing a pivotal role in one of the most important political movements of the twentieth century: black nationalism. A Beautiful Pageant is a thrilling piece of work that lets us see the heady years of the Harlem Renaissance in a new and compellingly political light. It is a classic destined to become the standard work on the subject for years to come. Book jacket.

Author Biography

David Krasner is Director of Undergraduate Theater Studies at Yale University. He is the author of Resistance, Parody and Double Consciousness in African American Theater, 1895–1910, and editor of Method Acting Reconsidered: Theory, Practice, Future.

Table of Contents

Introduction: African American Performance in the Harlem Renaissance * Part One: 1910-1918 * Men in Black and White: Race and Masculinity in the 1910 Heavyweight Championship Fight * Exoticism, Dance, and Racial Myths: The Choreography of Aida Walker and Ethel Waters * The Pageant is the Thing: Black Nationalism and The Star of Ethiopia * Part Two: Drama * Walter Benjamin and the Lynching Play: Allegory and Mourning in Angelina Weld Grimke's Rachel * Migration, Fragmentation, and Identity: Zora Neale Hurston's Color Struck and the Geography of the Harlem Renaissance * The Wages of Culture: Alain Locke and the Folk Dramas of Georgia Douglas Johnson and Willis Richardson * Part Three: 1918-1927 * The Banner of Freedom: Marcus Garvey and the Performance of Black Nationalism * Whose Role Is It, Anyway?: Charles Gilpin and the Harlem Renaissance * "What Constitutes a Race Drama and How May We Know It When We Find It?": The Little Theatre Movement and the Black Public Sphere * Shuffle Along and the Quest for Nostalgia: Black Musicals of the 1920s * Conclusion: The End of "Butter Side Up"