The First Black Meida Outlet led to African Grove Theater?

This date celebrates the origin of the African Grove Theater in 1821. Both ship stewards, William Alexander Brown and James Hewlett, founded the theater. 

James Hewlett, a frequent guest of the African Grove and a theater enthusiast, inspired Brown to incorporate theatrical works into the Grove’s repertoire and by 1821, Brown had created the African Theatre. Hiring Black performers, the African Company put on “possibly the first professional African-American theatre production ever.”

Founded six years before enslavement was completely abolished in the state of New York, says West View News, the African Grove Theatre became an important place of artistic expression for free Black people in New York City. They traveled to England and the Caribbean through their work, so they had a broader opportunity to see theater than the typical New Yorker and cosmopolitan experience. The West-Indies-born Brown left a job on a Liverpool ship and bought a house in New York at 38 Thompson Street. At the start, Brown held the African Grove in his backyard, offering food and drink, poetry, and short drama pieces. At the suggestion of Hewlett, an entertainer and a regular customer, they hired other Black actors.

With constant police raids and pressure to stop performances, the African Grove Theatre became mobile, moving to various locations around Mercer Street. But when they moved next to Stephen Price’s Park Theatre and staged a performance of Richard III at the same time as the Park Theatre, Price hired white people to start a riot and got the police to shut down African Grove’s performances. The actors were jailed overnight and released on the condition that they “promise never to perform Shakespeare again.

The Untold Story Of The African Grove Theatre