More than 200 people from the College and black theater community attended Saturday's conference, "African-American Theatre: the Next Stage," at the Hopkins Center.
The one-day conference, convened by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Montgomery Fellow August Wilson, followed the five-day, closed door National Black Theatre Summit at the College's Minary Conference Center in central New Hampshire.
The conference and summit were the result of remarks Wilson made in a 1996 speech, where he called for a separate black theater.
Saturday's events consisted of a series of panels discussing African- American theater and legal and social initiatives, economics, developing playwrights, diversity within the black arts community and audience development.
"We are capable of more than we have thus far imagined," Wilson said at a closing panel Saturday night.
Dean of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration Paul Danos, then unveiled a plan for a partnership between African-American Theatre and the Tuck School, that would help members of the black theater community learn better business.
This plan, Danos said, would bring theater managers to the Tuck School and also send Tuck students to work with African-American Theatre, with both programs to be subsidized by the Tuck School.
"[Tuck] students and faculty will benefit from this program," Danos said, before receiving a standing ovation from the audience.
Victor Walker, a drama and film studies professor, detailed his vision for the new millennium as a need for more involvement in the community.
"I'm willing to give up everything for this movement," Walker said. "Tenure doesn't mean anything to me."
Walker went on to attack the "multiculturalism" movement within the theater, claiming that it funnels funds away from ethno-specific theatre groups.
"This form of theatrical imperialism exploits ethno-specific theater at any cost," he said.
Thirty years ago, he said, the public selected Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as the most famous black figures. In a recent similar survey, the public chose Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan.
Walker said he was upset that in the 1960s, Americans selected active political leaders, but today, "an alleged pedophile, a convicted rapist and apolitical basketball-playing freak" are getting the attention.
Walker reiterated that the goals of the conference were long-term, and detailed a plan for a second summit in Atlanta at an undetermined date.
Walker also received a standing ovation.
Wilson then called for a return to the kind of energy that lead to the advancement of African-Americans in the 1960s.
"Our collective muscle is in danger of atrophy," he said.
Outlining the unique nature of African-American theater and the way it has shaped American society, Wilson called for the recognition of these contributions, saying, "We are not the servants at the party."
College Provost James Wright spoke about the need for America to hold onto its cultures. "The U.S. has never really been a melting pot, nor do we want it to be," he said.
He also said colleges and universities across the country need to open their doors to everyone. "Institutions of higher learning shouldn't be ivory towers," he said.
Also at the closing session, writer Ntozake Shange read an epic poem, "Beneath the Necessity of Talking," which she wrote for the conference.
Earlier Saturday, at a panel discussing "Aesthetics, Standards, Practices," moderator Paul Carter Harrison, a playwright, director and writer-in-residence at Columbia University, instigated a church-like atmosphere in order to illustrate the need to change the atmosphere of black theatre to that of a church.
Panelists and audience following Harrison also perpetuated the church-like atmosphere.
Playwright Dominique Taylor paced the aisles in an effort to rouse the audience even more.
Multi-media artist Ifa Bayeza proposed some vehicles to give the artists reception and response in mainstream criticism, including radio spots for black critics, more summits on black theater and visits to traditionally black colleges and drama departments to offer workshops and help develop curriculum to include African-American artists.
The National Black Theatre Summit, also convened by Wilson, took place last Monday through Friday at the Dartmouth's Minary Conference Center on Squam Lake. Walker served as its executive director and English Professor Bill Cook chaired the event.
The results of the summit are expected to include a book on the event, a documentary, the establishment of the African Growth Institute for the Arts and residency for Cook, Walker and Wilson at the John Paul Getty Research Institute in southern California for the month of May.
The Ford Foundation, Dartmouth College, The Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts funded the summit.
