Founded in 1968 by visionary artist Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, National Black Theatre (NBT) is a Tony-nominated cultural institution with a pioneering legacy in American theatre and a national reputation for producing bold new work by Black artists. In 2023, NBT made Broadway history with the transfer and co-production of James Ijames’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated Fat Ham, becoming only the third Black theatre company to bring a production from Off Broadway to Broadway. The following season, NBT produced the Tony Award-winning revival of Ossie Davis’s Purlie Victorious, marking its first Tony-winning Broadway production. Across its history, NBT has collaborated with and championed transformative artists from James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Ruby Dee to contemporary visionaries including Nona Hendryx and Bill T. Jones, while also helping launch the careers of influential voices such as Dominique Morisseau. NBT has invested more than $10 million in over 350 original works by Black artists and has earned major industry recognition, including an Emmy nomination, multiple New York Times Critics’ Picks, and Obie, Lucille Lortel, Audelco, and Drama Desk honors. Its legacy is preserved within the permanent collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Portrait Gallery. Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Sade Lythcott and Executive Artistic Director Jonathan McCrory, NBT continues to expand its national presence on and off Broadway while building a major new cultural arts center in Harlem at 125th Street and 5th Avenue.
