Black Theatre Analysis

One of the first things discussed in Eleanor Traylor's essay about Black theatre are the two main forms of contributions made which are minstrel show and slave narrative which is what she focuses on the most. Minstrel show is the first American dramatic form which came from the "tradition of confrontation and improvisation of grace under pressure" (48) which did not have the same roots as European contexts. The process of the creation of minstrel shows was created in America by African people. The contrast between the mask of the blues hero and the tragic protagonist also come into play when looking at the influence of African Americans. It goes beyond the journey, but into the rhythms and vision as well as the angle in which they see life …show more content…
(49-50). The minstrel show was a masking ritual born out of plantation playtimes around the Negro cabins (51) which its invisible history must be re-visualized. White performers spied down-field, up-field, or around the slave cabins was a masking performance in which they borrowed the masking feature but not the signification. Slave narrative developed from the oral accounts of run-away slaves entered literature by the combination of the several genres. The slave narrative disturbed existing generic distinction. The Narrative of Frederick Douglass was a revelation of the form and subject of slave narrative of Afro-American genre. It employed imagery and poetic intensity "dislodges the horrible from the category of the beautiful and places it into a category of the evil, the disgusting, the contemptible, and the decadent". (55) The black preacher is used as a stock character in drama. He is a trope and a master of "modes of eloquence". They were also used as a choral voice or a jester type character, as well as a warrior or communal voice. Overall, Traylor elaborates how the influence of Afro-American have created these two dramatic forms for Black