Platt House’s Black Arts Series is an initiative in support and celebration of Black creative expression, performance, and artivism on Penn’s campus. We seek visibility for Black creatives in current, incoming, and graduated classes to find, inspire, and collaborate with each other, and we aspire to repopulate and revitalize those Black affinity student performing arts groups whose membership took a hit over the past years of remote and socially distanced activities.
Black Performing Arts Clubs
Explore the performing arts groups who put Black culture, experiences, and affinities at the forefront of their mission.
Let us buy you a ticket!
Platt Student Performing Arts House subsidizes tickets to paid events upon request and by availability.
Join an interest track below and email us to attend!
 | Radio Golf (Arden Theatre Company) March 23rd – April 16th, 2023 |
| School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (African American Arts Alliance) March 24th – 25th, 2023 |
| Pay No Worship (InterAct Theatre Company) March 31st – April 23rd, 2023 |
 | Daydreaming (The Inspiration A Cappella) |
| Bulrusher (Theatre Arts Program) April 13th-16th, 2023 |
| Dream Girls: In Concert (The Centre Theatre) April 21st-23rd, 2023 |
| Abandon (Theatre Exile) April 27th – May 21st, 2023 |
| The Inspiration Presents: Karaoke Night |
| WAVe (West African Vibe) Performing at the ARCH Grand Opening |
| African Rhythms Drum Circle at Makuu Black Culture Center Open House |
| An Untitled Love (A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham) |
| Wine in the Wilderness (Philadelphia Artists Collective) |
| Our Voices, Our Time: One-Act Play Festival (Negro Ensemble Company) |
| Black by Black: Black Joy, Uninterrupted Film Festival (Monolith Arts Program) |
| Lakecia Benjamin & Pursuance October 16th @ 7pm, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| Q&A w/ Brandon Dirden of the Negro Ensemble Company October 17th @ 12pm, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| Ravi Coltrane Quartet October 22nd @ 8pm, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| Brandee Younger October 23rd @ 7pm, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| Death of a Driver (InterAct Theatre Company) October 28th – November 20th, Mainstage Theatre at the Drake |
| A Hit Dog Will Holler (Azuka Theatre Company) November 2nd – 20th, Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake |
| Pac And Biggie Are Dead (Theatre in the X and Drexel Theatre Program) November 10thd – 13th, Mandell Theater at Drexel University |
| Reading: Masc by Ang(ela) Bey (Azuka Theatre Company) November 12th @ 11am, Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake |
| Terence Blanchard & Andrew F. Scott present Gordon Parks: An Empathetic Lens Saturday, November 12th @ 8pm, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| Soweto Gospel Choir Friday, November 18th @ 8pm, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| Dancing Black: History of Swing, Hip-Hop, and Cultural Appropriation with Margit Edwards (Theatre Arts Program) Saturday, November 19th @ 2pm, Platt House Lobby |
| Rome & Jewels by Rennie Harris Puremovement December 9th – 10th, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts |
| The Ways of White Folks (Theatre in the X/EgoPo Classic Theatre) January 11th-22nd, 2023 |
| Black Theatre: The Making of A Movement (Penn Live Arts) January 25th, 2023 at 7:30pm |
| Clyde’s (Arden Theatre Company) January 26th – March 5th, 2023 |
| The Light (Theatre Exile) February 2nd-26th, 2023 |
| Mecca is Burning (Negro Ensemble Company, Penn Live Arts) February 15-18, 2023 |
| All My Mothers Dream in Spanish (Azuka Theatre / Teatro del Sol) March 1st-19th, 2023 |
This list is updated periodically. Check back for more and contact us if there are events you are interested in attending!
Thank you to the partners, collaborators, and friends who make the Black Arts Series possible:
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- Makuu Black Cultural Center
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- Monolith
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- Penn Live Arts