BLACKOUT Night
BLACKOUT Night is for individuals of the African Diaspora, inclusive of Black folk of all identities. For questions regarding BLACKOUT Night, please contact Ticketing Services at tickets@huntingtontheatre.org
Blackout Night- The Grove
Sunday, February 16th at The Huntington Calderwood
Pre-show best-dressed contest and reception at 5:30 PM. Dress up as your favorite Aunty or Uncle, the winner will receive a guided tour of The Huntington Costume & Wardrobe Warehouse and a FREE Ufot Pass (a $250 value!) We are thrilled to announce that all proceeds from this BLACKOUT night will go to the Boston LesBiGay Urban Foundation / Boston Black Pride.
Tickets are Pay-What-You-Wish.
About Blackout Performances:
A BLACKOUT is the purposeful creation of an environment in which an all-Black-identifying audience can experience and discuss an event in the performing arts, film, athletic, and cultural spaces – free from the white gaze.
A concept birthed by Slave Play playwright Jeremy O. Harris, the inaugural BLACKOUT night took place on September 18, 2019. For the first time in history, all 804 seats of Broadway’s Golden Theatre were occupied by Black-identifying audience members in communion, celebration, and recognition of Broadway’s rich, diverse, and fraught history of Black work. Based on the success of the first BLACK OUT, Slave Play hosted a second BLACKOUT on January 8, 2020, to bookend its Broadway run. Since then, other BLACKOUT events have organically taken hold.
In the fall of 2019, inspired by the BLACKOUT night on Broadway, Boston based Black-led theatre company, Front Porch Arts Collective launched its first BLACKOUT community engagement event during a performance of Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent and produced by SpeakEasy Stage. Together these companies designated a specific performance to be taken off sale to the general public and through targeted outreach they curated an audience primarily composed of Black-identifying individuals. While the event intentionally centered on creating a cultural affinity space it also subverted the usual predominately white racial dynamics of the theater. The event was a huge success, with attendees sharing that it was a transformative experience—the first time many of them felt the cultural experience on stage was fully mirrored in the audience. Since then, BLACKOUT nights have evolved to include pre or post show gatherings with food, drink, and an opportunity for audiences to connect and mingle. To date The Porch has played a part in BLACKOUT nights all over the city and beyond, including collaborations with The Huntington, SpeakEasy Stage, Central Square Theatre, and Greater Boston Stage Company. The initiative has also ignited other Boston based organizations, such as Teatro Chelsea and Chuang Stage, to create similar cultural affinity spaces for their work.