African American female playwrights, though still too often overlooked, have made great strides in the new century. Sandra Adell‘s new edited anthology presents ten works by contemporary African American women determined to bring dazzling new representations of black lives to the theater.

Taken together, the selections portray how these artists engage with history as they delve into, and shake up, issues of gender and class to craft compelling stories of African American life. Gliding from gritty urbanism to rural landscapes, the works expand boundaries and boldly disrupt modes of theatrical representation.

The works: Blue Door, by Tanya Barfield; Levee James, by S. M. Shephard-Massat; Hoodoo Love, by Katori Hall; Carnaval, by Nikkole Salter; Single Black Female, by Lisa B. Thompson; Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine, by Lynn Nottage; BlackTop Sky, by Christina Anderson; Voyeurs de Venus, by Lydia Diamond; Fedra, by J. Nicole Brooks; and Uppa Creek: A Modern Anachronistic Parody in the Minstrel Tradition, by Keli Garrett.