Harlem Theater

HARLEM USA in the aftermath of Martin Luther Kings murder German filmmaker Klaus Wildenhahn turned his 16mm camera on the New Lafayette Theatre as its players rehearsed scenes ran public workshops and conducted exercises in uptown Manhattan New Lafayette or NLT had been founded by actordirector Robert Macbeth the previous year with the aim of producing theater for black people by black people to reflect the experiences and vernacular of the Harlem community Within the Black Arts Movement NLT would become a significant institution it published the journal Black Theatre and employed a host of talents including the Black Panthers Minister of Culture Ed Bullins and the great pianist Junior Mance both of whom appear in Wildenhahns film as resident collaborators