Abstract

The joy of Black women and femmes in embodied theatrical practices in productions is a beautiful, euphoric experience that requires the curiosity and imagination of the Black women and femmes involved in these productions to expand their creativity, to tune into their joy, their erotic, which is personal, and uplift their stories of radical joy while resisting the oppressive natures of the margin. As the margin exists as an oppressive sphere where Black women and femmes find their collective solitude and resistance, radical joy and opportunities to invoke the personal phenomenological journey of the erotic are enacted. The Blks shows the journey of young Black women who are aware of the margin but choose joy. In this piece, I synthesize bell hooks' theory of the margin and Audre Lorde's theory of the erotic to investigate the joyous acts of being young, gifted, and Black in the world of Aziza Barnes' BLKS and Lisa B. Thompson's Single Black Female.

Keywords: Black Feminist Theatre, Black Theatre, Black Feminism, Black Joy, BLKS, Single Black Female, Lisa B Thompson, Aziza Barnes

How to Cite:

C-Dina, A. M., (2024) “BLKS and Single Black Female: Joy within the Margin”, the Black Theatre Review 3(1), 33-51. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/tbtr.6025