“A people without knowledge of their history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” –Marcus Garvey

Our Mission

Established in the fall 2016 by D. Amy-Rose Forbes-Erickson, the Pan-African Theatre Ensemble is a non-profit, voluntary, repertory theatre developed for ongoing research in Pan-African theatre and performance in the Department of the Pan-African Studies at Kent State University. The primary mission of the Pan-African Theatre Ensemble is to promote black theatre in the United States and around the world. Pan-Africanism is a concept and principle of unity among Africans on the continent of Africa and people of African descent worldwide who share in the traumatic history of trans-Atlantic slavery and scattering of African peoples throughout the world. The Pan-African Theatre Ensemble is the first company of its kind anywhere – dedicated to black theatre from everywhere. The goal of the Pan-African Theatre Ensemble is to produce engaging, inspiring, experimental, and eclectic theatre and performance styles from the Pan-African world, including the continent of Africa, the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe. The Pan-African Theatre Ensemble extends Efua Sutherland’s vision for Pan-African cultural activism with the Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) Biennial in Ghana, uniting emerging and established theatre and performance by Africans on the continent and peoples of African descent.

Our Vision

The Pan-African Theatre Ensemble’s vision is:

• To produce a repertoire of emerging and canonical theatre from Africa and the Pan-African world, including the United States, Caribbean, Latin America, North America and Europe.
• To experiment with a rich reservoir of Pan-African theatre and performance forms to create new methods – music and mime, physical theatre, storytelling, ethnographic folk, and other African, African American, and Caribbean forms
• To promote innovation and creativity in the use of space, performance styles, design, and directorial methods
• To encourage open membership to all people regardless of race, gender, sexuality, nationality, disability, and others.
• To collaborate with local and regional artists and communities to produce theatre and performance
• To promote civic engagement and social justice issues of gender, race, sexuality, and nationality through a selection of plays and performances.
• To explore a variety of black expressions in non-Western and Western performance styles

Our Mandate

The Pan-African Theatre Ensemble’s mandate is:

• To produce inspiring annual theatre seasons with Pan-African themes through theatre
• To forge links with African and African Diasporic theatre companies for traditional folk, experimental performance styles, and contemporary works using Western and non-Western forms
• To participate in national and international theatre festivals, including PANAFEST (Pan-African Historical Theatre Project), Carifesta (Caribbean Music and Arts Festival), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and others.
• To promote volunteerism in the Pan-African Theatre Ensemble for community building
• To encourage and promote emerging talents in the field.
• To provide opportunities and outlets for all, and especially for under-represented theatre artists in all areas of theatre production.
• To educate and empower audiences and communities
• To promote the role of theatre in community, society and the world