National Black Theatre

Founded in 1968 by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, an award-winning performer, director, visionary entrepreneur, and champion of the Black Arts Movement, NBT has a ground-breaking legacy: as the country’s first revenue-generating Black art complex, the longest continually run Black theater in New York City, and one of the oldest theaters founded and consistently operated by a woman of color in the nation. Since its founding, NBT has invested over $10 million in 350+ original works by Black artists and garnered numerous accolades, including NYTimes Critics Picks, Obie Awards, Lortel Awards, a TONY award, and an EMMY nomination. NBT has also been included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. More than five decades later, NBT’s core mission remains the same. Today, NBT further stretches that mission to educate, enrich, entertain, empower, and inform national consciousness around social justice issues that impact our country. In 2023, NBT made Broadway history and its debut with the transfer and co-production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play FAT HAM by James Ijames, making it the third Black theatre company in the history of ‘The Great White Way’ to ever do so. The following season, NBT won its first Tony Award for its revival of Purlie Victorious.