Present Day
American Stage Theatre Company
A theatre company established in 1977. American Stage was the 12th theatre in the world to complete all 10 of August Wilson’s Century Cycle series. Black theatre productions include:
2004 – Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias with an all-black cast.
2007- August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean.
2014- August Wilson’s Radio Golf.
2017- August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
2018 – Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
ASTC’s production of August Wilson’s “Radio Golf”
Freefall Theatre Company
Theatre company founded in 2008 in St.Petersburg, Florida.
In February of 2017, Freefall theatre presented the Florida Regional Premiere of Red Velvet- a play about African American actor, Ira Aldridge
Jose Rufino as Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet
West Coast Theatre Group
The West Coast Theatre Group is a black theatre group founded by Nate Jacobs in 1999 out of Sarasota, Fl. Recent productions include The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, In the Heights by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and an original play by Nate Jacobs titled Broadway in Black. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQWIFdD5OWw
Photo of WBTT’s production of “Broadway in Black”
Tampa Bay Theatre Festival
An annual 3-day theatre festival, established in 2013 by an African American couple- Rory and Kahlila Lawrence. Allows community members to submit and produce full-length and short plays and monologues, as well as attend improv, acting, and singing workshops.
Founders of the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival, Rory and Kahlia Lawrence
Dr.Carter G Woodson African American History Museum
A black history museum in St.Petersburg, Florida whose mission is to preserve, present, and interpret African American history, Named after Carter Woodson, the Father of Black History Month.In January of 2017 had an event for American Stage to celebrate their completion of August Wilson’s 10 year Century Cycle and had an exhibit in June of 2017 on the Harlem Renaissance.
Advertisement for the Century Cycle Celebration at the museum
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida’s School of Theatre and Dance has put on productions of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls in 2004 and Lynn Notage’s Crumbs from the Table of Joy in 2006, both of which directed by Fanni Green. USF offers a course on Caribbean theatre. USF’s library also has a virtual archive on the history of minstrelsy in America.
USF Theatre “For Colored Girls” production poster
Fanni Green
Fanni Green is an African American playwright and theatre teacher at the University of South Florida. Born in St.Petersburg, Florida, Fanni received her bachelors from USF and her Masters in Fine Arts from NYU’s Tisch School of Fine Arts. Her original plays include Tillers and The Gilded Sixpence and she has directed productions of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls and Lynn Notage’s Crumbs from the Table of Joy.
G.B. Stephens
G.B. Stephens is an associate professor of design in the Theatre of School and Dance at the University of South Florida . Stephens has been active in the Tampa Bay theatre community for 35 years, having designed lighting and scenery for over 110 productions including August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls, and Errol John’s Moon on a Rainbow Shaw. 
G.B. Stephens
University of Tampa
University of Tampa offers bachelors degrees in theatre and musical theatre. We have included University of Tampa to contrast the University of South Florida, as none of UT’s recent theatrical productions can be classified as black theatre and there are no black theatre courses.
The Boys and Girls Club of Tampa Bay
The Boys and Girls Club is a nonprofit organization that establishes community centers for youth to play and learn during non-school hours. There are 18 sites in the Tampa Bay Area, including sites in predominantly African American communities. The boys and girls club has a partnership with the Patel Conservatory, a theatre in Tampa, FL, and offers children acting/musical theatre workshops.
Children performing in a Patel Conservatory musical theatre workshop
Euseph Messiah
Euseph Messiah is an actor and producer born in Tampa, Florida on Macdill Airforce Base in 1985. Although he is currently best known for his television role of playing Ellis on “The Vampire Diaries”, he also has acted as the lead in theatre productions including And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel, produced by the Newnan Theatre Company.
Museum of Florida History
The Museum of Florida History ran an exhibit from 2009-2010 called “Voices of Florida Women”. The exhibit included the gowns of Mary “Diamond Teeth” McClain, a well-known singer, vaudeville performer, and off-broadway actress who performed in Bradenton and St.Petersburg, Florida.
Mary Mccain
Sources:
“A Beautiful Customized Gift in Seconds.” FreeFall Theatre, freefalltheatre.com/.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, www.bgctampa.org/partnerships/program-partners.aspx.
“Euseph Messiah.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm4191492/mediaviewer/rm2931303424.
Exhibits & Events, www.woodsonmuseum.org/exhibits-events.
“Faculty & Staff Directory.” Faculty & Staff Directory | School of Theatre and Dance | College of The Arts | University of South Florida, theatreanddance.arts.usf.edu/content/go/faculty/.
“Home.” American Stage Theatre Company, americanstage.org/.
“Museum of Florida History.” Museum of Florida History – Mary McClain, museumoffloridahistory.com/exhibits/previous/voices.cfm?id=35.
Release, Press. “Patel Conservatory Provides Free Arts Enrichment to Community.” Tampa Bay News Wire, 30 June 2017, www.tampabaynewswire.com/2017/06/30/patel-conservatory-provides-free-arts-enrichment-to-community-3-59090.
User, Super. “What’s New.” Home – Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe -Live Theater, westcoastblacktheatre.org/.
— Kiana Outen