As the field of African American studies has gathered strength over the last decade, black theatre and performance has become a field unto itself. For literature scholars who study drama, and for playwrights, directors, and actors, the cultural heritage of black theatre has become too important to dismiss. Elam and Krasner's collection answers the need for a one-volume guide to the history and criticism of black theater and performance. Assembled by two of the most respected and prolific scholars in black theatre and composed of essays from acknowledged authorities in the field (Joe Roach and Genevieve Fabre, among others), the volume is likely to become the central reference for those studying black theatre and a vital tool for literature and African-American Scholars.

'Post-black' refers to an emerging trend within black arts to find new and multiple expressions of blackness, unburdened by the social and cultural expectations of blackness of the past and moving beyond the conventional binary of black and white. Reflecting this multiplicity of perspectives, the plays in this collection explode the traditional ways of representing black families on the American stage, and create new means to consider the interplay of race, with questions of class, gender, and sexuality. They engage and critique current definitions of black and African-American identity, as well as previous limitations placed on what constitutes blackness and black theatre. Written by the emerging stars of American theatre such as Eisa Davis and Marcus Gardley, the plays explore themes as varied as family and individuality, alienation and gentrification, and reconciliation and belonging. They demonstrate a wide-range of formal and structural innovations for the American theatre, and reflect the important ways in which contemporary playwrights are expanding the American dramatic canon with new and diverse means of representation. Edited by two leading US scholars in black drama, Harry J. Elam Jr (Stanford) and Douglas A. Jones Jr (Princeton), this cutting edge anthology gathers together some of the most exciting new American plays, selected by a rigorous academic backbone and explored in depth by supporting critical material.

"A shrewdly designed, generously expansive, timely contribution to our understanding of how 'black' expression continues to define and defy the contours of global (post)modernity. The essays argue persuasively for a transnational ethos binding disparate African and diasporic enactments, and together provide a robust conversation about the nature, history, future, and even possibility of 'blackness' as a distinctive mode of cultural practice."
--Kimberly Benston, author of "Performing Blackness"
""Black Cultural Traffic "is nothing less than our generation's manifesto on black performance and popular culture. With a distinguished roster of contributors and topics ranging across academic disciplines and the arts (including commentary on film, music, literature, theater, television, and visual cultures), this volume is not only required reading for scholars serious about the various dimensions of black performance, it is also a timely and necessary teaching tool. It captures the excitement and intellectual innovation of a field that has come of age. Kudos!"
--Dwight A. McBride, author of "Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch"
"The explosion of interest in black popular culture studies in the past fifteen years has left a significant need for a reader that reflects this new scholarly energy. Black Cultural Traffic answers that need."
--Mark Anthony Neal, author of "Songs in the Key of Black Life"
"A revolutionary anthology that will be widely read and taught. It crisscrosses continents and cultures and examines confluences and influences of black popular culture -- music, dance, theatre, television, fashion and film. It also adds a new dimension to current discussions ofracial, ethnic, and national identity."
--Horace Porter, author of "The Making of a Black Scholar"

As the field of African American studies has gathered strength over the last decade, black theatre and performance has become a field unto itself. For literature scholars who study drama, and for playwrights, directors, and actors, the cultural heritage of black theatre has become too important to dismiss. Elam and Krasner's collection answers the need for a one-volume guide to the history and criticism of black theatre and performance. Assembled by two of the most respected and prolific scholars in black theatre and composed of essays from acknowledged authorities in the field (Joe Roach and Genevieve Fabre, among others), the volume is likely to become the central reference for those studying black theatre and a vital tool for literature and African-American scholars.