Existing comment:
Theatre
Theater, too, turned its back on tradition. Traditionally, theater was performed on a proscenium stage with the audience sitting in front. DC's Arena Stage became one of the first companies to experiment with an arena-like setting that placed the audience in concentric circles around the performance space. By 1975, it had become a DC staple.
Local theater expanded with such experimental efforts as the Back Alley Theatre, established by playwright and community activist Naomi Eftis. In an effort to provide theatre directly to neighborhood residents and showcase the work of radical, African American, and Latino playwrights and dancers, Eftis began offering performances in the alley behind her home in Mount Pleasant. She also helped establish the District's first bilingual theater company, Teatro Doble.
Along with Howard University and the District of Columbia Teachers College, the DC Black Repertory Company established by actor and producer Robert Hooks, brought African American plays to new audiences. |