From the Shadows: Black Queer British theatre practitioners and institutional constraints to visibility

From the Shadows offers an original and timely assessment of the socio-political positions of Black Queer British theatre practitioners whose histories have been marginalised from Black theatre studies and white Queer studies. Focussing on the cultural conditions of British theatre production between 1980 and the present day, it makes visible those histories currently missing from the sector and the academy, as well as analysing the reasons why Black LGBTQ+ voices have been persistently overlooked, ignored or even silenced. This study considers the positioning of the Black LGBTQ+ community within Black Patriarchy as well as within racialized hierarchies of Queerness. The project has three main objectives:
-To construct and document the histories of Black LGBTQ+ communities within theatre which have been grossly unremarked by the sector and academia.
-To heighten visibility and public awareness of the contributions of Black Queer British practitioners to the industry as a whole.
-To identify the infrastructural politics of UK theatre institutions which have historically prevented the reach of Black Queer voices and continue to do so in our present day.
These objectives will be critically pursued in relation to the economic circumstances and structural mechanisms of British theatre production and the wider cultural landscape within which it sits.