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August Wilson, Robert Brustein debate survival of Black theater.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, August Wilson and American Repertory Theatre's artistic director and critic for "The New Republic," Robert Brustein, engaged in an intense discussion focused on a critical examination of culture, politics and race at Town Hall. Wilson's stirring keynote address to the Theatre Communications Group's (TCG) National Conference, in June, and Brustein's critical response, prompted TCG's recent presentation, "On Cultural Power: The August Wilson/Robert Brustein Discussion."
Could these two impassioned men of theater reach a common ground? Henry Louis Gates Jr., Woodie King, Phylicia Rashad, Cornel West, and George Wolfe were among the throngs of people representing all aspects of American theater, in eager anticipation of the great debate.
"Who would have thought that a `rap' on race, a `rap' on cultural power would draw such a crowd," exclaimed playwright and performer, Anna Deavere Smith, who moderated the discussion. It was James Baldwin's and Margaret Mead's "rap" on race 27 years ago that inspired her to further this discussion.
"In 1931, W.E.B. Dubois said, `Not only has the American theater refused to face the drama of the Negro problem but has opposed every effort to find dramatic expression on the stage.' Both Wilson and DuBois see Black theater as an avenue for bettering the future of Black America," said Smith. These issues, along with Wilson's condemnation of the gross inequities in funding and a...