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Abram Hill, also known as Ab Hill, (20 January 1910 – 13 October 1986) was an American playwright; author of ''On Strivers Row'', ''Walk Hard, Talk Loud'' and several other plays; and a principal figure in the development of black theatre from Atlanta, Georgia. Although best known for his literary work ''On Strivers Row'', Hill's most fundamental accomplishment was his part in founding American Negro Theater also known as A.N.T. alongside Frederick O'Neal, and members of the McClendon Players. == Biography == Abram Hill was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on 20 January 1910, and spent half of his childhood there before moving to Harlem, New York, at 13 years old. He enrolled into a City College and later graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1937. He majored in Theater Arts at Lincoln, and after graduating was hired as an assistant in the university's drama department. He returned to New York a year later and joined the Federal Theater Project. His work mostly included reading plays for production. He wrote some of his own plays in this period, including ''On Strivers' Row,'' ''Walk Hard,'' ''Hell's Half Acre'' and ''Liberty Deferred.'' In 1939 the Federal Theater Project was shut down, Hill then teamed up with Frederick O'Neal and a group of other drama artists to form American Negro Theater (ANT). Their hope was to create a place where African American artists could come to perform for years and years to come in Harlem, New York. Their hopes were definitely met with a promising start, ANT was one of the most prominent black theaters to be successfully founded. From 1940 to 1950 ANT put on 20 plays, more than half of which were original. Two years after returning to New York, Hill co-founded American Negro Theater with Frederick O'Neal in Harlem New York in 1940. Their mission was to establish a company that would use their platform to give African American artists the opportunities that weren't available to them on broadway. Over the course of their years in business, 50,000 people attended ANT plays. In an interview shortly before Hill's death he recalled how he brought Harlem residents into the theater. "''We sent a wagon up and down the streets of Harlem with somebody beating a drum",'' he said. "''We passed out handbills on the street corners. And we had a family night. We let in five members of the family for a dollar".'' Hill and O'Neal believed that the more mainstream Theater not only had few opportunities for Black actors, but that it also encourage a more hostile relationship between the artists- each of them striving to be the only 'star'. These guys were more interested in showing the Black community they're own power; directors, writers, technicians, actors- no matter your talent, would all be equally as important. They started by sending postcards to other writers and actors that were local to join them. In June 1940, American Negro Theatre by 18 artists. They stated that their mission was: "to break down the barriers of Black participation in the Theater; to portray Negro life as they honestly saw it; () to fill the gap of a Black Theater which did not exist." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Abram Hill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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