Black Voices

Six outstanding plays by African-American playwrights
Larry Powell, Aja Naomi King in 'The Mountaintop' by Katori Hall.

Black playwrights have created some of theater's most powerful, moving and groundbreaking works.

Listen to six exceptional pieces from Lynn Nottage, Katori Hall, Lonne Elder III, Roger Guenveur Smith, Lydia Diamond and Charlayne Woodard. 

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A Huey P. Newton Story

A Huey P. Newton Story

By: Roger Guenveur Smith

The LATW recording of A Huey P. Newton Story preserves Roger Guenveur Smith’s brilliantly-imagined, Obie Award-winning exploration of the life of the controversial Black Panther leader through a series of improvisations based on his own words and writings.

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Ceremonies in Dark Old Men

Ceremonies in Dark Old Men

By: Lonne Elder III

A Harlem family dreams of a better life, but pursues it in tragic ways. First produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1969, this modern classic opened the door for a new generation of African American playwrights. Stars Rocky Carroll and Glynn Turman.

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Fabulation

Fabulation

By: Lynn Nottage

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage’s satirical tale about a successful African-American publicist (Charlayne Woodard) who stumbles down the social ladder after her husband steals her hard-earned fortune. Broke and pregnant, Undine is forced to return to her childhood home in the Brooklyn projects, where she must face the challenges of the life she left behind.

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The Mountaintop

The Mountaintop

By: Katori Hall

Katori Hall’s gripping, slyly humorous, Lawrence Olivier Award-winning re-imagining of events as they might have taken place at the Lorraine Motel on the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Stars Aja Naomi King and Larry Powell.

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The Night Watcher

By: Charlayne Woodard

In her acclaimed one-woman show The Night Watcher, playwright/performer Charlayne Woodard tells the story of a woman who chooses not to have children — only to be pulled into the real-life struggles of kids of all ages, races and backgrounds.

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Stick Fly

Stick Fly

By: Lydia Diamond

A powerful comedy-drama about an upper-class African American family wrestling with parental expectations, sibling rivalry, and issues of class and race during a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. Stars Justine Bateman, Dulé Hill, Tinashe Kajese, Carl Lumbly, Terrell Tilford, Michole Briana White.

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