Bibliography and Inspirations
Major Anthologies
Branch, William B. 1992. Black Thunder: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Drama. New York: Mentor.
Burton, Jennifer. 1996. Zora Neale Hurston, Eulalie Spence, Marita Bonner, and others : the prize plays and other one-acts published in periodicals. New York: G.K. Hall.
Hamalian, Leo and James V. Hatch. 1991. The Roots of African American drama : an anthology of early plays, 1858-1938. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Hatch, James V. and Ted Shine. 1996. Black Theatre USA. Plays by African Americans 1847 to Today. New York: Free Press.
King, Woodie, Jr. and Ron Milner. 1971. Black Drama Anthology. New York: Meridian.
Mahone, Sydné. 1994. Moon Marked and Touched by Sun. Plays by African American Women. New York: Theatre Communications Group.
Perkins, Kathy. 1989. Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays Before 1950. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Wilkerson, Margaret. 1986. Nine Plays by Black Women. New York: New American Library.
Bibliographies
Hatch, James V., and Omanii Abdullah. 1977. Black playwrights, 1823-1977: an annotated bibliography of plays. New York: Bowker.
Peterson, Bernard L. 1988. Contemporary black American playwrights and their plays: a biographical directory and dramatic index. New York u.a: Greenwood Press.
History
Harrison, Paul Carter, Victor Leo Walker, and Gus Edwards. 2010. Black theatre ritual performance in the African diaspora. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1983. Flash of the spirit: African and Afro-American art and philosophy. New York: Random House.
Articles
Thompson, Robert Farris. 2011. Aesthetic of the cool: Afro-Atlantic art and music. Pittsburgh: Periscope Publishing.
Theater History Resources
Library Databases
New York Public Library (holdings include the Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture)
Digital Libraries
Internet Archive Library Books to Borrow (free access requires creating an account with Internet Archive)
Oral Histories
The History Makers is a digital archive that contains video oral histories of notable Black Americans across fields and industries including the performing arts. As library subscription is required to access The History Makers, if you live in the NY state area, you may be able to access it with a valid NYPL Library card remotely. Access is available at all NYPL Research and Branch Library locations. If you live outside of the NY state area, check with your local library about obtaining access to this resource.
Play Script Publishers
Concord Theatricals (formerly known as Samuel French)