Timeline
1969
Under the auspices of the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies, Esther Terry founds the Black Repertory Theater. She directs it for seven years and produces twelve plays during that time.
1973
The Department of Theater is founded.
1973
Shirley Graham DuBois earns a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and she teaches in the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies for two years. She is known as the first African American woman to write and produce an opera with an all-Black cast Tom-Toms: An Epic of Music and The Negro, produced in Cleveland, OH in 1932. In 1936, she was appointed as the director of the Chicago Negro Unit of the Federal Theater Project by Hallie Flanagan.
January 1974
Black Theater historian, playwright, and director Paul Carter Harrison publishes Kuntu Drama: Plays of the African Continuum. He is a faculty member in the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies at the time.
March 1975
The Black Egg A Spiritual in Three Movements by Mungu Abudu, Doctoral Candidate in W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies, directed by Professor Paul Carter Harrison. This is the first Black play produced in the department and took place in the UMASS Studio Theater.
April 1977
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Theater Professor Doris Abramson. This is the first play by a Black playwright produced in the Curtain Theater.
1979
Third World Theater is founded by Roberta Uno. This multicultural theater organization is dedicated to the presentation, production, and support of theater by art.ists of color. In the mid-1980s, Third World Theater becomes New WORLD Theater (NWT). Dr. Fred Tillis, director of the UMASS Fine Arts Center, moves NWT out of student affairs and into the Fine Arts Center.
September 1983
James Baldwin accepts a teaching position in the Five Colleges Consortium and holds the title of Distinguished Fellow in the UMASS Amherst Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities. He teaches in the area colleges until 1986.
May 1987
The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka, co-production between New WORLD Theater and Theater Department. Dick Trousdell, director, Roberta Uno, assistant director, Femi Richards and Ketu Ka Trak dramaturgs. Dr. Pearl Primus served as the choreographer. This is the first play by a Black playwright produced on the Rand Stage. At the time, Dr. Primus held a Five College appointment and taught dance at the area colleges.
The Lion and the Jewel was produced in conjunction with "A Black Theater Conference," celebrating the retirement of Doris Abramson. Rosemary K. Curb, James V. Hatch, Errol G. Hill, Nellie Yvonne McKay, Thomas D. Pawley, Margaret Wilkerson, James Baldwin, Alice Childress, Esther Terry, William B. Branch, Loften Mitchell, and Louis Peterson served as panelists in this day-long symposium. Aishah Rahman received the Doris Abramson Black Playwriting award that year.
December 1989
Unfinished Women Cry in No Man's Land While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage by Aishah Rahman, co-production between New WORLD Theater and Theater Department, directed by Andrew Lichtenberg.
May 1991
Black Woman's Survival Kit For Dreaming Your/Our Own Dreams When Foraging in the Dark for Images of Yourself That You Haven't Seen, but Know Damn Well Are True by Andrea Hairston, directed by Kym Moore, MF A Directing student.
April 1992
Like Them That Dream (Children of Ogun) by Edgar Nkosi White, directed by Nefertiti Burton, MFA Directing student.
February 1993
Joe Turners Come and Gone by August Wilson, co-production between New WORLD Theater (NWT) and the Department of Theater, directed by Nefertiti Burton, MFA Directing student.
October 1994
Sheila's Day by Duma Ndlovu, conceived and created by Duma Ndlovu and Mbongeni Ngema, co-production between New WORLD Theater and the Department of Theater, directed by Roberta Uno, Professor of Theater and Artistic Director of NWT. This play was developed and first produced at Crossroads Theatre Company (New Jersey), Ricardo Khan, artistic director.
October 1997
An Evening of One Acts by Early African American Women Playwrights: It's Morning by Shirley Graham DuBois, directed by MFA Directing student lya Judyie AI-Bilali; Plumes by Georgia Douglas Johnson, directed by Beth Maxwell, and The Purple Flower by Marita Bonner, directed by James Vesce. This was a co-production between New WORLD Theater and the Department of Theater. This event included a symposium on African American Women Playwrights featuring Doris Abramson, Professor Emeritus, and Kathy Perkins, Theater Professor at University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
lya Judyie AI-Bilali, MFA Directing student, founds dark moon theater to "celebrate and contribute to the continuum of Black theater." dark moon offered "a nurturing environment for the creation of new works, while also keeping the extraordinary legacy of Black theater alive."
December 1998
Love, Langston by Loni Berry, directed by lya Judyie AI-Bilali, MFA Directing student.
February 1999
Sanango by azande, a co-production between New WORLD Theater and the Department of Theater, directed by lya Judyie AI-Bilali, MFA Directing student.
Fall 1999
Where The Mississippi Meets the Amazon by Ntozake Shange, directed by
lya Judyie AI-Bilali, MFA Directing student.
February 2000
The Bacchae by Wole Soyinka, directed by lya Judyie AI-Bilali, MFA directing student, choreographed by Marlies Yearby.
Fall Semester 2001
Celebration of Adrienne Kennedy, curated by Priscilla Maria Page, MFA Dramaturgy student:
October 2001 — Funnyhouse of a Negro, staged reading directed by Priscilla Maria Page
November 2001 — Ohio State Murders, directed by Danielle Sertz, dramaturgy by Priscilla Maria Page
Scholars Dr. Paul K. Bryant-Jackson, Chair of Theater at Miami University, and Caroline Jackson Smith, Professor of Theater and African American Studies at Oberlin College, in conversation about the importance of producing Kennedy's work
December 2001 — Sleep Deprivation Chamber, staged reading directed by lya Judyie AI-Bilali, MFA Theater Alum
April 2002
Crossing John at the Crossroads written and directed by Theater Professor Gilbert McCauley. The performance included jazz rnusicians Bill Lowe (trombone), Warren Smith (percussion), Taylor Ho Bynum (trumpet), and Leonard Brown (saxophone).
September 2006
Lydia on the Top Floor by Terry Jenoure, Co-production between New WORLD Theater and Department of Theater, directed by MFA Theater Alum Linda McInerny and dramaturgy by Theater Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
March 2007
Suzan-Lori Parks delivers the Rand Lecture.
September 2008
sash & trim by Djola Branner, a co-production between New WORLD Theater and the Department of Theater featuring Djola Branner (Hampshire College Theater Professor), directed by Laurie Carlos, dramaturgy by Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
September 2008
Pork Chop Wars (staged reading) by Laurie Carlos, directed by Laurie Carlos, dramaturgy by Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
April 2009
...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi by Theater Professor Marcus Gardley and directed by Professor Gilbert McCauley, dramaturgy by Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
July 2009
The Fine Arts Center suspends New WORLD Theater's operations, citing economic challenges. The theater doesn't reopen.
November 2010
Black Playwrights Festival with readings from Sister Sonji by Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Goin'a Buffalo by Ed Bullins, Lanelle Moise, and Lydia Diamond as part of the W. E. B. DuBois 40th Anniversary Celebration, organized by Professors Marcus Gardley and Priscilla Maria Page.
November 2011
Hell in High Water by Professor Marcus Gardley, directed by Professor Gilbert McCauley, dramaturgy by Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
April 2013
Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by MFA Alum lya Judyie AI-Bilali, dramaturgy by Adewunmi Oke, MF A Dramaturgy student.
March 2014
BLACK/QUEER/DIASPORA/WOMYN FESTIVAL, curated by MFA Dramaturgy student Adewunmi Oke who also served as the dramaturg. The plays included were con flama by Sharon Bridgforth directed by Djola Branner, and Da Kink in my Hair by Trey Anthony, directed by MFA alum lya Judyie AI-Bilali.
April 2015
Giants by Jose Rivera, produced, directed, and featuring Eddie Elliot, Undergraduate Theater major. From his artist statement "For all those who seek change and embrace diversity of all kinds, this is dedicated to you. As a student and advocate for social change, I often find myself questioning a lot of things. Most recently I noticed the underrepresentation of students of color in the theater department, namely in the lack of diversity in our casting practices and in selection of plays produced in our season. I have chosen to address this gap by producing Giants and I hope to inspire a new league of outcasts who will work against our invisibility in this department, on this campus and in the world around us."
February 2016
We are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, from the years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies-Drury, directed by MFA Directing student Jen Onopa Under Onopa's leadership, this production traveled to the Grahamstown Theater Festival (now titled Makanda Festival) in Makanda, South Africa in Summer 2016.
April 2016
Collidescope 20: Adventures in Pre and Post-Racial America, written and directed by Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks, produced by Professor lya Judyie AI-Bilali, dramaturgy by Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
April 2016
Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks deliver the Rand Lecture in conversation with Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
April 2016
Liliane by Ntozake Shange, a staged reading directed by Jen Onopa, MF A Directing Student.
April 2017
Tazieh conceived by MFA Directing student Nikoo Mamdoohi and a-Mars Haeri, written by a-Mars and lfa Bayeza, MFA student in directing and dramaturgy, directed by Mamdoohi.
April 2017
Return of the Mothership: Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks in Conversation with Professor Priscilla Maria Page in the Rand Theater.
March 2018
Infants of the Spring written and directed by MFA Directing and Dramaturgy student lfa Bayeza, dramaturgy by Professor Priscilla Maria Page.
May 2018
spell #7 by Ntozake Shange, directed by Sabrina Victor, Undergraduate Theater major and Multicultural Theater certificate student
April 2019
Sweat by Lynn Nottage directed by Professor Gilbert McCauley, dramaturgy by MFA Dramaturgy student Maegan Clearwood.
October 2019
Baltimore by Kirsten Greenidge, directed by MFA Directing student Josh Glenn-Kayden, dramaturgy by Shaila Schmidt.
October 2019
NTOZAKE SHANGE· A COMMUNAL CELEBRATION OF LIFE organized by Tatiana Rodriguez, Theater undergraduate and Multicultural Theater certificate student. This was presented in the New Africa House Theater space and co-produced by the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies and the Department of Theater.
November 2019
The Bacchae of Euripides by Wole Soyinka, directed by Professor lya Judyie AI-Bilali.
December 2019
Wrong Answer! Examining Stakeholder Voices in High Stakes Testing, written and produced by Darius Taylor, School of Education doctoral candidate, directed by Jen Onopa, MFA Directing student, Advisor and Associate Producer Professor lya Judyie AIBilali.
October 2020
When The Soul Looks Out: Selections from Dr. Yusef Lateef's Creative Writing, text by Dr. Yusef Lateef, curated and directed by Dr. Priscilla Maria Page.
March 2021
Unity by Phaedra Scott, directed by UMASS Directing student Josh Glenn Kayden.
April 2021
Rights of Spring Festival, produced by Professor lya Judyie AI-Bilali, featuring events curated by AI-Bilali: Fela Matters, Respiration, and A Gathering of Grandmothers.