Theatre of Common Sense: Ernie McClintock, Jazz Acting, and the Queer Black Power Aesthetic (1965 - 2003)
Cizmar, Elizabeth.
2017
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Abstract: Ernie McClintock, the founder of the Afro-American Studio for Acting
& Speech (est. 1966) in Harlem, Artistic Director of the 127th Street Repertory
Ensemble (est. 1968), and the Jazz Actors Theatre in Richmond (est. 1991), preached "The
Theatre of Common Sense," later known as "Jazz Acting Technique: a Common Sense Approach to
Acting". McClintock infused self-determination and ... read morecommunity, tenets of Black Power, in his
actor training and in his productions throughout his forty-year career. This unsung hero of
the American theatre became the first African American artist to pioneer a genre of actor
training that challenged actors to integrate their observations of daily life in the Black
communities with training in music, history, voice and movement that equipped actors to
play anything from Baraka to Molière. The technique, rooted in the jazz tradition, starts
with the script, or the melody. The actors create a clear character based on improvisation,
or the jazz riffs. The tools of the technique allow the actors to explore, research, and
respond in the context of an improvisational jazz conversation, the identifying aspect of
the ensemble. Although Ernie McClintock's acting technique determined his versatile
repertoire and shaped an innovative aesthetic, particular sects of the 1960s Harlem
community viewed McClintock as a-political and his contribution is seemingly on the
fringes, due to his enigmatic queer Black Power positionality. The significance of this
inquiry challenges reductive understandings from scholars such as Herbert Blau who perceive
the Black Power Movement and Black Arts Movement as "ruthlessly aggressive" from "militant
and existential blacks." However, my research on McClintock reveals a figure from the Black
Arts Movement who included womanist and queer perspectives. Hence, McClintock's training
and productions demonstrate that the Black Aesthetic and alternative points of view are
equally important and representative of the movement and its legacy. McClintock and his
partner, Ronald Walker, created a space for the twice marginalized to connect with the
African diaspora and yet provided opportunities for individual artistic expression and
social justice. I propose that Ernie McClintock's acting technique defined his versatile
repertoire and shaped what I refer to as the Queer Black Power Aesthetic in acting. In the
Queer Black Power Aesthetic, which is inclusive of queer and womanist perspectives, through
the Jazz Acting Technique McClintock established what he referred to as the contemporary
Black Classics. This genre of plays from Amiri Baraka, N.R. Davidson, James de Jongh, and
Richard Wesley are works from African American points of view that should be as familiar to
practitioners and students as Shakespeare and Chekhov. Through McClintock's efforts to
create the contemporary Black Classics and acting theory, I argue his legacy persists into
the 21st century in theatre professionals nationwide.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2017.
Submitted to the Dept. of Drama.
Advisor: Monica White Ndounou.
Committee: Nicole Hodges Persley, Noe Montez, and Heather Nathans.
Keywords: Theater history, African American studies, and Performing arts.read less - ID:
- 0r967g39k
- Component ID:
- tufts:22389
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
