| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.3

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch. A History of African American Theatre. (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama, number 18.) New York: Cambridge University Press. 2003. Pp. xxiv, 608. $100.00.
This is the sort of encyclopedic history book that usefully fills in gaps. Anyone interested in Charles Gilpin or the Hyers Sisters or the Karamu Theatre could certainly begin here, with its solid index and a good bibliography. The participation of African Americans in the theater throughout the nineteenth century was not deemed important enough, either by participants or by historians, for much of it to be recorded in print. Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch attempt an exhaustive review of the written records of the past, and as they move into contemporary history, where there is certainly more to draw on, they cite, even if briefly, the most notable African-American theatrical achievements.	1
The question here, as in so much historical writing, is what defines its borders. Hill and Hatch decided that the African-American part of their title should focus on black people who were either born in the United States or immigrated to it, though they include a chapter on Caribbean-born artists who spent time in North America; when it comes to the sort of theater they write about, they stick to "companies, productions, actors, managers, and technicians who achieved national reputations" (p. xv), figuring that a second volume would have to take on nontraditional theater, like performances of songs or preaching in lodges and churches. Finally, recognizing that much of black theater is influenced by white theater (and vice versa) they incorporate discussion of the most influential white theatrical expression, such as minstrelsy and George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.	. . .

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