Table of Contents: Authors

Information about Black Drama

1.	Introduction - personal account of how the database was created.
2.	About the Database - a description of the contents of the database and its purpose.
3.	Editorial Policy - detailed criteria used in selecting materials.
4.	Errata - known errors in this database.
5.	Notes on the Current Release - notes on this version.
6.	Software Requirements - notes on which browsers are supported.
7.	Technical Support - whom to contact for technical support.
8.	Subscription and Free Trial Information - how to get a subscription or a trial.
9.	License Agreement - licensing terms and conditions.
10.	Acknowledgements - charter customers and individuals who contributed.
11.	How to Contribute Materials or Comments - how to contribute materials.
12.	Copyright and Performance Permission Statement - copyright terms and conditions.
13.	Archiving - how this material is preserved for the future.
14.	Cataloging Records - what kind of MARC records will be available for this collection.

1. An Introduction to Black Drama

Black Drama was conceived as a way to make the writings of leading African Dramatists more accessible. Thanks to the hard work of James V. Hatch, Will Whalen and Jeremy Caleb Johnson it has become this and much more.

Three things make this database unique:

The database includes more than 500 previously unpublished plays. This includes works by a number of leading playwrights - such as Amiri Baraka and Ed Bullins. In our licensing efforts it became apparent that there were many plays which had not been published because there was no successful business model for doing so, or because the interest in them had waned since they were first produced.
The database includes a resource file that allows the user to see playbills, stills, photographs, and other ephemera from a wide range of sources. Principal among these has been the Hatch-Billops collection, but there have also been contributions by individual authors, artists and others.
The structure of the database is simply unique. It has been built around the core elements of drama - not just the authors, but the performers, the productions, the companies, the theaters as well as the plays themselves. It will allow users to examine and understand what Black Drama is in ways that have never been possible before.

I hope we will find still more materials to include in it. I encourage you to let us know where we may find them!

Stephen Rhind-Tutt, President
Alexander Street Press

2. About Black Drama

Black Drama contains the full text of 1,200 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 100 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. Many of the works are rare, hard-to-find, or out of print. James Vernon Hatch, the playwright, historian, and curator of the landmark Hatch-Billops Collection of black drama, is the project’s editorial advisor. More than a quarter of the collection will consists of previously unpublished plays by writers such as Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Femi Euba, Amiri Baraka, Randolph Edmonds, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.

Each play is extensively and deeply indexed, allowing both keyword and multi-fielded searching. The plays are accompanied by reference materials, significant ancillary information, a rich performance database, and images. The result is an exceptionally deep and unified collection that illustrates the many purposes that black theater has served: to give testimony to the ancient foundations of black culture; to protest injustices; to project emerging images of the new Black; and to give voice to the many and varied expressions of black creativity.

The database covers key writings of the Harlem Renaissance, works performed for the Federal Theatre Project, and plays by critically acclaimed dramatists of the 1940s. The collection includes musical comedies, domestic dramas, folk dramas, history plays, anti-slavery plays, one-act plays, and other works. Many were published in a wide range of magazines and anthologies, others have never before been published or performed.

Students and scholars will have immediate access to plays addressing a wide range of struggles and triumphs, including migration to Northern cities, mothers’ keeping families together, exploitation by white land owners, interracial unity, racial violence, civil rights activism, and the black war hero.

Included are the plays of Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Zora Neale Hurston, Ira Aldridge, Shirley Graham, W.E.B. DuBois, William Wells Brown, Owen Dodson, Joseph Seamon Cotter, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Randolph Edmonds, Angelina Weld Grimke, Georgia Douglas Johnson, May Miller, Willis Richardson, Eulalie Spence, and others.

In addition, the collection covers the Black Arts movement of the sixties and seventies and works performed by the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BARTS), The Negro Ensemble Company, and other companies.

The plays explore themes including civil rights, desegregation, and a wide range of ideologies – integrationist and separatist, revolutionary and nationalist. While the collection is strong in social and political drama, it also covers domestic drama and satires.

The collection includes works by Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Ed Bullins, Phillip Hayes Dean, Ted Shine, Aishah Rahman, Paul Carter Harrison, James Baldwin, Rita Dove, Charles Fuller, Ron Milner, Sonia Sanchez, Melvin Van Peebles, Joseph Walker, Richard Wesley, and many others. Dozens of never-before-published works are included.

This collection also brings together a wide collection of plays from Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, the West Indies, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world. It includes works by writers such as David Edgecombe, Una Marson, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jimmi Makotsi, Femi Osofisan, Yulisa Amadu Maddy, Duro Lapido, ‘Zulu Sofola, H.I.E Dhlomo, Gus Edwards, Fatima Dike, Alan Paton, Ama Ata Aidoo, Francis D. Imbuga, Joe Coleman de Graft, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Richard Moore Rive, and many others. Dozens of plays in the collection have never been published before. Other works are long out-of-print or hard-to-find.

The plays deal with the social and political ills stemming from colonialism, slavery, and apartheid; the struggle for independence; African history; and neo-colonialism. Of particular interest is material written as “township theatre” in South Africa under apartheid and the development of black grassroots urban theatre. White Africans are included when they are key writers whose works address important black issues.

3. Editorial Policy

We consulted several bibliographies in creating the database, and content selection is under the direction of our editors and advisors. The collection’s unpublished portion has evolved mostly under the direction of the playwrights themselves. Among the bibliographies used to select published works are:

· Peterson, Bernard. Early American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers.
· Peterson, Bernard. Contemporary Black American Playwrights and their Plays
· Hatch, James Vernon 1928-. Black Playwrights, 1823-1977: An Annotated Bibliography of Plays. New York, Bowker, 1977.
· Gray, John, 1962-. Black Theatre and Performance: A Pan-African Bibliography. New York, Greenwood Press, 1990.
· French, William P. et al. Afro-American Poetry and Drama, 1760-1975: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit, Gale, 1979.
· Arata, Esther Spring. Black American Playwrights 1800 to the Present: A Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1976.
· Arata, Esther Spring. More Black American Playwrights: A Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1978.
· Abramson, Doris E. Negro Playwrights in the American Theatre, 1925-1959. New York, Columbia University Press, 1969.
· A Sourcebook of African-American Performance: Plays, People, Movements. London, New York, Routledge, 1999.
· Etherton, Michael, 1939-. The Development of African Drama. New York, Africana Pub. Co., 1982.

4. Errata

It is our goal to have no errors in this database. Below are known errors in this release of the database which will be rectified in the next release.

Two plays by Robbie McCauley have incorrect titles, according to the author. The play "Indian Work" should be titled "Indian Blood" and the play "Shay’s Rebellion" should be titled "Shays’ Rebellion".

5. Notes on this Release

This release of the database includes approximately 1200 plays by 201 playwrights.

6. Software Requirements

Black Drama is optimized to operate with Netscape Navigator Version 1.2 or higher or Microsoft Explorer 7.0 or higher.

7. Technical Support

You can contact us by:

emailing us at support@alexanderstreet.com
telephone toll-free on 1-800-889-5937

When reporting a problem please include your customer name, e-mail address, phone number, domain name or IP address and that of your web proxy server if used.

8. Subscription and Free Trial Information

Black Drama is available for one-time purchase of perpetual access, or as an annual subscription. Please contact us at sales@alexanderstreet.com if you wish to begin a subscription or to request a free 30-day trial

9. License Agreement

1. THE PARTIES: "Customer" means the person(s) and/or organization that have ordered or are taking a trial of the Product(s) as listed in Appendix A. The location listed in Appendix A is the "Site." "ASP" means Alexander Street Press, LLC, whose registered offices are situated at 38 Alexander Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. "IP" means the owners of copyright in the original materials that form part of the Product(s).

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The Customer's rights are limited to itself alone and do not extend to subsidiary or parent corporations, or to any other related or affiliated organizations. Any rights not expressly granted in this license are reserved to ASP.

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Appendix A

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11. Acknowledgements

Black Drama was made possible through the hard work of the following individuals:

James V. Hatch	Curator Hatch-Billops Collection, Advice, editorial selection, and much more !
Brenda Berrian, PhD	University of Pittsburgh, for editorial advice
Camille Billops	Hatch-Billops Collection, for historical information, access to collections
Dr. Alice L. Birney	Library of Congress, for historical information, manuscript information
Jennifer Bradshaw	Federal Theatre Project Archives, George Mason University, for historical information
Jacqueline Brice-Finch, PhD	James Madison University, for editorial advice
Professor Tim Couzens	University of Witwatersrand, for editorial advice
Joellen El Bashir	Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, for contact, estate and manuscript information
Joanne Veal Gabbin, PhD	James Madison University, for editorial advice
F. Abiola Irele, PhD	Ohio State University, for editorial advice
Diana Lachatanere	Schomburg Research Center, for contact, estate and manuscript information
Catherine Mardikes	University of Chicago, Software development and design
Mark Olsen	University of Chicago, Software development and design
Kathy A. Perkins	University of Illinois, Editorial advice, script identification
Jane Plastow, PhD	University of Leeds, for editorial advice
Leslie Sanders	York University, Toronoto, Editorial and Contact information
Judith Stevens	Pennsylvania State University, Editorial advice, biography
Susan Stratton, PhD	University of Calgary, for editorial advice
Erika J. Waters, PhD	University of the Virgin Islands, for editorial advice
Brian J. Worsfold	Universitat de Lleida, Spain, for editorial advice
Will Whalen	Editorial selection, rights negotiation, commissioning
Jeremy Caleb Johnson	Editorial selection, rights negotiation, commissioning, indexing
Pat Lawry	Editor, Alexander Street Press
Graham Dimmock	Software Development, Alexander Street Press
Dave Althen	Sourcing, Alexander Street Press
Darryl Baker	Sourcing, Proofing, Mark-up, Images, Alexander Street Press
Janice Cronin	Finance, Alexander Street Press
Eileen Lawrence	Research, Alexander Street Press
...and, most of all, the authors and their families	Editorial advice, historical information, script identification, contact information, and everything else.

Thanks also to the writers of biographies:

A. Mary Murphy	Red Deer College, Canada
Adaku T. Ankumah, PhD	Tuskegee University
Ama Wattley, PhD	Pace University
Amy Lee	Hong Kong Baptist University
Antonia MacDonald-Smythe, PhD	St. George's University, Grenada
Arica L. Coleman	University of Delaware
Christine Gray, PhD	Catonsville Community College, Maryland
Courtney D. Johnson	UCLA
Daintee Glover Jones	University of Houston
Denisa Chatman-Riley	Claremont Graduate University
Elizabeth Marsden	Dillard University
F. E. De Lancey	Drexel University
Greg Beatty	University of Iowa
Heath A. Diehl, PhD	Bowling Green State University
Ian S. Maloney	City University of New York
Jai Park	Arizona State University
Janice G. Stickley	Radford University
John Brannigan, PhD	Queen's University, Belfast
Lincoln Konkle	The College of New Jersey
Loretta Woodard	Marygrove College
Luca Prono	University of Nottingham
Lynette Myles	Arizona State Univeristy
Nichole Perkins	Dillard University
Núria Casado	University of Lleida, Spain
Pat Young	Western Illinois University
Patricia Afua Marcus	University of Toronto
Peter Ukpokodu, PhD	University of Kansas
Pilar Cuder	Universidad de Huelva, Spain
Ruth Burks, PhD	Harvard University
Sandra L. West, PhD	Virginia Commonwealth University
Sandy Alexandre	University of Virginia
Stephanie Dupal Demartin	James Madison University
Yolanda Williams Page	Dillard University

11. How to Contribute Materials or Comments

Our goal is to create a unique archive of Black Drama according to the editorial criteria expressed above. We welcome contributions from organizations and individuals, especially if you have materials that are unpublished or of unique interest. Submitting materials to our editors is easy and without obligation on your part. If you have collections of substantial value, we may be able to pay you a royalty in return for the rights to use them.

To submit materials for inclusion in Black Drama, please email the Editor at Editor@AlexanderStreet.com or mail them to Alexander Street Press, 3212 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
If you are a commercial publisher who would like to discuss licensing materials for inclusion in the database, please contact the Editor at Editor@AlexanderStreet.com or 1-800-889-5937 or 1-703-212-8522.
To report factual errors or to suggest improvements, please email us at Editor@AlexanderStreet.com. Please include the author, the document, and the page number. Please also include your email address, so that we can let you know the status of your correction.

12. Copyright and Performance Rights

Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that plays and materials in this database are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and all other countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the British Commonwealth and Canada), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including but not limited to professional, amateur, motion pictures, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, including information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

Plays from this collection may not be performed without securing permission from the appropriate copyright holders, as listed in the bibliographic display for each play.. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of readings, permission for which must be secured in writing. All production rights reserved. Under no circumstances may any electronic form (CD-ROM, online, or other local storage medium) be used to create production copies of the plays.

Specific performance rights information for each play can be found in the bibliographic detail display for that play. Alexander Street Press makes no guarantee that this information is correct. For plays where no performance rights information is listed Alexander Street Press does not warrant that no performance rights exist.

We are eager to hear from any rights owners who are not properly identified so that appropriate information may be provided in the future. Please e-mail the editor at the address below.

13. Archiving

Texts produced for Black Drama are considered research materials and receive the same level of stewardship as books, paper documents, and photographs. Once complete, copies of the database will be given to all purchasing institutions, so ensuring that the materials are available to subsequent generations.

14. Cataloging Records

We will be making MARC records available for this collection. Each play will be given its own MARC record to allow linking directly from the OPAC to the individual item. This will enable patrons to link directly from a public access catalog to all documents pertaining to a particular author.

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