THE ROLE OF RITUAL
in the African American Church and Theatre

Rev Mosely
Therefore, I said, therefore my soul keep them!

Gremmar
Amen, Reverend

These are the words that begin one of the most pivotal and complex moments in The First Breeze of Summer. Members of the Edwards family gather together in a traditional ritual of faith to give thanks and honor to God.

As Presidential candidate Barack Obama recently reminded the nation, in a notable address on race, the most segregated time in America is Sunday morning. From the early days of slavery to the present, black and white Americans have worshiped largely in separate spaces, leaving both groups in the dark about the other’s spiritual traditions.

Performance practices in African American Christian churches, from Baptist to Pentecostal, include rituals that serve not only as religious rites of passage, but also as a means of connecting Parishioners to their heritage.

Rituals in African American Christian churches include call and response interactions between the congregation and preacher, calls for Parishioners to approach the altar to embrace Chirst, the laying on of hands, and personal communion with the Holy Spirit. “Amen!” “Say that!” and “Yes!” ring out from the congregation to encourage a pastor delivering an uplifting message of liberation and perseverance.

Theatrical performance and Black church traditions are inextricably linked. Dance and movement, oral storytelling, and call and response are among these intersections. In America, Black performance spaces evolved from slave ships, to the fields and plantations where enslaved Africans toiled, to the pulpit. To understand why this evolution occurred it is important to understand the context of religious ceremony during those times. Sunday morning was often the only respite slaves had from their daily grind of back-breaking labor. Church had to be much more than a place to discuss scripture, it had to fulfill a broad spectum of emotional and community needs. The pulpit became an important platform for political and social issues as well. As a result, the church in the African American community developed an entertaining, and often theatrical, edge.

As African Americans battled their way from slavery to freedom, the theatrical traditions of the church began to present themselves on stage. Many of the first modern African American playwrights made faith and religion central themes of their work.

The link between the church and the Black theatre stage has emerged as a multi-million dollar commercial industry somtimes called the “chitlin circuit,” or Urban Circuit, which provides inspirational plays to predominately Black audiences across America. These works serve to motivate, inspire, and entertain, employing theatre as a medium for spreading the Biblical lessons of survival, redemption, and resolve. Of his own work, theatre artist and Urban Circuit mogul Tyler Perry commented, “It’s about life lessons, it’s faith-based, it’s about God, it’s about love, it’s about hope and forgiveness.” From slaves whose names we may never know to Leslie Lee, August Wilson, and Tyler Perry, the tradition of mixing theatre and religion continues.

-Jocelyn Prince, Production Dramaturg