Black theater is as old as the first tribes of Africa who danced with wooden masks to represent gods or legends (Kerr, p3). The playwrights of this era were the Griots, known as the keepers of the history of African tribes and who mark the beginning of the African literary tradition (Freeman). But when did the development of the black playwright really take off?The first black playwright in history was Terence Afer, born around 159 BC (Arnott). He was taken to Rome as a slave and, because he impressed his master, he received a liberal education and as much freedom as a slave could have. Terence managed to produce six plays in his life which served as the basis for the modern comedy of manners (Arnott). Terence's literary career has been deciphered from the collection of his own prologues, commentaries on his plays written by Aelius Donatus, and the writings of a Roman biographer named Suetonius. After Terence, the history of playwrights of color was lost or not followed well enough to make much of it. The first period in history where the development of the black playwright really took hold was between the 1820s and 1930s, in the United States. This is the century when African Americans fought for freedom and equal rights. The major leading figures who developed and advanced the black playwright were William Wells Brown, Angelina Weld Grimke, Willis Richardson, Alain Leroy Locke, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Lorraine Hansberry. The ancestors of African Americans were chained, enveloped in death and pain, they were dragged. on long journeys across the sea from their homes to work until their very last breath in fields managed by settlers. Slavery being the foundation of African Americans, what circumstances...... middle of paper ......s Circle Award (A&E Networks). Later, the play was even adapted into a musical and won a Tony Award (BHS). However, at the age of 34, Lorraine Hansberry was diagnosed with and died of pancreatic cancer (BHS). Before her death, she wrote a second play about a liberal's experience with politics and activism called The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (A&E Networks). But reviews of the play were mixed and the play became a failure. After her death, Hansberry's ex-husband, Robert Nemiroff, completed her final works and published three of her plays, Les Blancs, The Drinking Gourd, and What Use are. Flowers? (BHS). Nemiroff also composed a piece in honor of Lorraine Hansberry using a combination of her writings and journal entries, titled Being Young, Gifted, and Black (BHS). Although death came to him at a young age, his work and fame endure..