Performing Race: Past and Present

CRS is pleased to announce the next public program for our Seeing Race Before Race project. How do we perform race? This event puts the spotlight on theater makers as they explore how race was understood and performed on the early modern stage, as well as its relevance for audiences today. Through dynamic performances of scenes from early modern plays, including Shakespeare, by actors from Congo Square Theatre and thought-provoking conversations, we will consider the legacy of pre-1800 theater in contemporary Black performance.

This program is being held in conjunction with the Newberry exhibition Seeing Race Before Race, generously supported by the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and Pam and Doug Walter.

For more information about this program and instructions on how to register, please click on the button below.

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The Newberry Library is situated on the aboriginal homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi Nations, and the Illinois Confederacy: the Peoria and Kaskaskia Nations. Many other nations including the Myaamia, Wea, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Thakiwaki, Meskwaki, Kiikaapoi, and Mascouten peoples also call this region home. Indigenous people continue to live in this area and celebrate their traditional teachings and lifeways. Today, Chicago is home to one of the largest urban Indigenous communities in the United States and this land remains an important place for Indigenous peoples. As a Chicago institution, it is our responsibility to acknowledge this historical context and build reciprocal relationships with the tribal nations on whose lands we are situated.