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African Grove Theatre Created
The first African American theatre is founded in New York City by William Henry Brown and named the African Grove Theatre. -
Angelina Grimke Produces Rachel
Angelina Grimke becomes one of the most influential African American female playwrights of the early twentieth century by creating the play Rachel. The play addresses institutional racism and poverty that plays an impact on the lives of African Americans on a day-to-day basis. -
Tawfiq al-Hakim Produces The People of the Cave
Tawfiq al-Hakim, an important Egyptian dramatist of North Africa, produces The People of the Cave, one of many of his plays that focused on religious issues, the social positions of women, and the pursuit of happiness in a world full of war, poverty, and disease. -
Hubert Ogunde Establishes the African Music Research Party
Hubert Ogunde establishes the first contemporary professional theatrical company in Nigeria, the African Music Research Party. The company explored and evolved the ways of Yoruba Opera, the most popular form of contemporary theatre in Nigeria. -
African American Theatre Gains Ground
African American theatre begins gaining recognition with the publication of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, a play that explored the separations of races and the hardships inflicted on African Americans. The play eventually won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. -
Nigeria is Independent
The country of Nigeria is granted independence. This grant to Nigeria lead to a flourishing of English-language theatre and the start of many famous playwrights, such as Ola Rotimi and Femi Osofisan. -
NEC is Created
The Negro Ensemble Company is founded by Douglas Turner Ward. The company produces plays that explore past and present African American themes and has had a helping hand in launching careers of performers, including Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. -
Pieter-Dirk Uys Takes Aim at Apartheid
Pieter-Dirk Uys creates the alter-ego of himself known as Evita Bezuidenhout. Uys used this character to highlight the flawed ways of apartheid, an established doctrine made by the Union of South Africa in 1950. Apartheid was eventually abolished in 1994. -
The Century Cycle Begins
August Wilson produces Jitney, the first of ten plays produced by Wilson that make up his “Century Cycle”. The cycle explores the African American experience during each decade of the twentieth century. Two of the plays were Pulitzer Prize Winner’s. -
Noble Prize Heading to Africa
Wole Soyinka becomes the first African to win the Noble Prize for Literature. While Soyinka was largely known as a playwright, he gave up play writing for the most part to focus on human rights activities.