Postbellum: la drammaturgia afroamericana gay e l’incubo della storia

This essay’s premise is that there is currently a gay Black renaissance in the American theater. After a brief overview of some of the most acclaimed playwrights, the essay focuses on what seems to be a recurring theme in many dramatic works, both for the stage and for cinema and television: the return of the antebellum past in plays that are instead set in the present time—a return that is often framed as a nightmare the characters struggle to confront. The second half of the essay analyzes two plays, Insurrection: Holding History, by Robert O’Hara, and Slave Play, by Jeremy O. Harris, exploring the interplay between sexuality, slavery, and historiography.