Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2023

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.F.A.

Department

Theatre Arts

Degree Program

Theatre Arts, MFA

Committee Chair

Burton, Nefertiti

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Segal, Janna

Committee Member

Segal, Janna

Committee Member

Wallace, Sherri

Author's Keywords

Afrofuturist dramas; key features of Afrofuturism; precursors to Afrofuturism; performing or embodying an Afrofuturist protagonist in Afrofuturism; Teshonne Powell's Afromemory; techniques for performing in an Afrofuturist drama

Abstract

This thesis explores Afrofuturism and positions Afrofuturist drama as a new, 21st -century genre of theatre. My thesis defines Afrofuturism and characteristics of Afrofuturist plays by Black women. My examination of Afrofuturist pieces and performance strategies is for Black female performers working in Afrofuturism. I show how Black female fiction writers contributed to Afrofuturism by examining two 20th -century plays by Black women that have Afrofuturist features but were written before the term was coined. I use Afromemory, a play produced by the University of Louisville Theatre Arts Department in Spring of 2022, as a case study of an Afrofuturist play. I analyze the play and the protagonist, Sarah B., and share the physical, emotional, and vocal work I did to develop and perform this character. I detail specific performance techniques I found effective to bring this Afrofuturist figure to life.

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