The Free Southern Theater (FST) began at Toogaloo University in Jackson, Mississippi. The intention of the company was to bring theater to people who had never had access to it.
They originally toured in predominantly rural, Black areas of the South. In 1965, however, the FST moved to New Orleans.
The Movement ideas, the integration, the disrespect for social conventions in dress and behavior, left a bad taste in the mouths of conservative New Orleans blacks, who looked at the players as young back activists associated with the Movement.
According to a documentary on the company, the players attracted a lot of attention from their contemporary lifestyles. Most of the actors lived in the French Quarter
Throughout the FST’s first year in the city, the subject of an integrated theater caused controversy inside the company as well. Many Black members of the group believed that the group should be a completely black group.
After a decision was made that the group would focus on doing work in the Black community, they moved operations to the Desire Projects where they could put their service into action. Where they could play a role in the life of the community.
Seeing the many problems people faced in their neighborhood, disputes arose within the company regarding the role of the FST in the Desire community. Some people wanted to use part of their space as a community center with a library and information center on Black history while others thought that their activism was primarily through their workshops and theater productions.
While going through all of these changes, FST produced play Ghetto of Desire.
This play exposed the gross inequalities people living in the Desire projects faced on a daily basis. The problems getting in and out of the project due to the railroad tracks and canals that surrounded the area, the poor-quality recreational facilities for kids, and the condition of the roads within the development came under scrutiny.
The FST brought about social change. When CBS decided to broadcast the play in a program called, “Look Up and Live,” the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) went up in arms, demanding its cancellation.
The FST also published a radical newspaper called The Plain Truth which raised issues pertinent to Black communities in New Orleans.
Unfortunately, the lack of funding and the final decision by director John O’Neal forced the FST to close in the mid seventies.
Works Cited
Dent, Thomas, Richard Schechner, and Gilbert Moses, eds. The Free Southern Theater by the Free Southern Theater. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1969.