Honors College Theses
Publication Date
2025
Major
Theatre (B.A.)
Release Option
Open Access
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Sarah McCarroll
Abstract
The following study explores the character types that have been historically available to Black actors in American theatre and how that representation enforced, resisted, or ignored stereotypes. To examine the impact of those roles on the performers who played them, I examine the documented approaches Black actors have taken to embody their characters, as well as my own evolving process used to portray the eight characters I have inhabited in my personal college performance career at Georgia Southern University. This research and retrospective analysis reveal that while a lazy or performative indifference leads to harm, color-conscious inclusion, challenging conversations, and specific actions all contribute to liberation in performance.
Thesis Summary
This thesis includes research of African American performance history as well as an analysis of the student's own academic performance career at Georgia Southern in order to discover the conditions needed to achieve a liberated Black performance on American stages.
Recommended Citation
Burton, Gabrielle, "Black Bodies on American Stages" (2025). Honors College Theses. 1034.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/1034
Included in
Acting Commons, African American Studies Commons, Africana Studies Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons, United States History Commons
