people with little sense of their past can have no future. More importantly, a people with no sense of their collective cultural condition can have no art. When one speaks of African theatre, one speaks of the need to present that which is dedicated to the lives of African people. For we are first and foremost a people whose roots lie in the native soil of Africa, and whose blood, sweat, and tears have been spent nurturing the soil of American democracy. African theatre is dedicated to those Africans who live and die, unknown and unmourned in America. 

African Americans have had a long history of involvement in the theatre arts, much of which has not been recognized. Specifically, African Americans have been part of the American stage since the 1700s, but little of this theatre tradition has been recorded in standard histories of American drama. In 1926 W.E.B. DuBois was prompted to announce that four attributes of African theatre must be recognized and maintained. African theatre, DuBois asserted, must be ". . . about us . . . by us . . . for us . . . near us." This position was taken to a more psychological and cultural level with the Black Consciousness Movement of the 1960s by one of its most articulate spokespersons. 

In 1965, Amiri Baraka, the well known playwright, poet, and educator, demanded that there exist a theatre about African people and dedicated to the liberation of African consciousness. That these theatrical self portraits were often devastatingly accurate and powerful is a tribute to the determination of African American theatre artists. In large part, the American theatre rejected this collective effort, since African theatre failed to portray ''negroes'' as mammies, butlers, wild-eyed spooks, or shiftless fools. Often the content of African theatre productions dealt with a repudiation of those materialistic and racist values Eurocentric America continuously tried to instill in African peoples over the centuries. 

Through pioneering creative efforts, African theatre has become functional, collective, and committed as reflected in the unique rituals and particular historical perspectives of African and African American peoples. African theatre is ritualized through music, poetry, dance, folklore, and religion, thus creating a theatre art form that serves a greater purpose than theatre for theatre's sake. The mission of African theatre, therefore, is to strengthen our identity, confirm our history, and concretize our future directions. 
 

There has been Black Theatre at Kent State University since 1970. The African Community Theatre was established as an institution in 1981 and became an integral part of the cultural programming of the Center of Pan-African Culture. It is housed on the first floor of Franklin Hall in the CP-AC Annex. Currently under the direction of  Dr. Francis E. Dorsey, the African Community Theatre's distinct purpose is to offer a program to increase the public's knowledge of and exposure to the theatre heritage of African peoples. To accomplish this he seeks to increase the general community's participation in the African Community Theatre as audience or as participants, irrespective of age, race, or station in life. He defines ACT's constituent community as not only Portage County and Kent State University, but Mahoning, Summit, Trumbull, Stark, and Cuyahoga Counties as well. 

The African Community Theatre's stated goals and objectives are to help eliminate the cultural deficit found within a 100-mile radius of Kent State University. It is our hope, which is based on the needs expressed by individuals, agencies, and organizations within the community, not only to decrease the cultural gap, but also to enliven in community residents an awareness and appreciation of the full warp and woof of African cultural traditions as depicted through theatrical performances. 

The nucleus groups for the African Community Theatre are the Mbárí Mbáyò Players and the African Theatre Arts Workshop. The African Theatre Arts Workshop serves to train students and community residents in various aspects of theatre which are behind the scenes, e.g., set design and construction, stage management, costuming and make up, audience development, and lighting and sound. The Mbárí Mbáyò Players are in training for acting on stage. Initially, we concentrate on the creativity of the individual; later the emphasis shifts to group interaction and creativity. It is at the stage of group creativity that the participants move into preparing for actual dramatic performances. At this point they are merged into the Mbárí Mbáyò which also serves as the African Community Theatre's repertory company. During the year, the African Theatre Arts Workshop and the Mbárí Mbáyò Players come together with community residents and college and public school students from a variety of backgrounds for an orientation to the importance of African theatre and how they can get involved. 

The goal of the African Community Theatre is to help in the growth of people and to extend the reach and wealth of African creativity as presented through theatre in the northeastern Ohio area. In terms of furthering this goal, the Workshop and Players are open to the participation of senior citizens, younger adults, and college and public school students. 

The African Community Theatre is interested in all community and University residents of Portage County and also those individuals living in contiguous counties. If you are interested in acting, directing, writing plays, poetry or prose, ushering, costuming, photography, graphic design, stage lighting, dance, music, or just a place to express your creativity, we need your participation. 

The African Community Theatre provides, whenever financially possible and necessary, free transportation from designated locations for community residents interested in actively participating in or attending any of its productions.