Black Nativity

Langston Hughes, one of America’s most important poets of the 20th century, created Black Nativity as a telling of the Christmas story from a black point of view. Drawing on folk and popular songs, traditional seasonal music, and Biblical narratives, Hughes crafted an animated yet uniquely rich song-play celebrating the message of “Joy to the World” and “peace on earth to men of goodwill”. His production of Black Nativity first appeared on Broadway in the mid-1960s.

When the National Center of Afro-American Artists began its production in l970, it brought additional inventiveness to the song-play, reinterpreting it with a cast of both children and adults, using a live newborn baby for the Christ child, and choreographing the birth of the Babe into the show itself. In the spirit of Langston’s original innovation, the NCAAA brought new dimensions to Black Nativity which have stamped the brilliance of its production, and over the last 35 years, made it a classic for the holiday season in New England.