Keith Antar Mason Explained

Keith Antar Mason (born 1956) is an American writer, performance artist, and playwright. He is the founding artistic director of the Black theatrical company Hittite Empire.^[1]

Biography

Mason was born on November 3, 1956, in St. Louis, Missouri. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1985 and founded Hittite Empire in 1987.^[2]

Selected plays and performances

• Prometheus on a Black Landscape: The Core (1990)^[3]
• 49 Blues Songs for a Jealous Vampire (1992)^[4]
• Performance, in LAX: The Los Angeles Exhibition (December 5, 1992)^[5]
• Busboy Blues, Atlanta & 4th St. Playhouse (1992)
• In My Living Condition, San Francisco (1992)
• Rachel Ain't Got No Brain, "Issue of Choice," LACE, Los Angeles (1992)
• River, Highways, Santa Monica, California (1992)
• Torn Language, Dialogue of Doubt (collaboration with Elia Arce and Jeff McMahon), Dance Theater Workshop, New York (1992)
• Survival (1995)^[6]

Selected publications

• For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When the Streets Were Too Much (1986)^[7]
• From Hip-Hop to Hittite and Other Poetic Healing Rituals for Young Black Men: A Retrospective (2005)
• New Wine & Black Men’s Feet (2009)
• Medusa's Children (2020)^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Breslauer . Jan . 1992-11-08 . Performance Art : Emperor of Anger : Hittite Empire's Keith Antar Mason wonders if his newfound mainstream success is just another example of the New Tokenism . 2024-06-12 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
2. Web site: BOMB Magazine Keith Antar Mason . 2024-06-12 . BOMB Magazine . en.
3. Web site: Zimmer . Elizabeth . 1990-02-18 . Taking 'Wilding' to the Stage : Keith Antar Mason combines Central Park incident with mythology . 2024-07-16 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
4. News: Holden . Stephen . 1992-07-21 . Review/Theater; Anger and Desperation of Black Men . 2024-07-16 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
5. Book: LAX, the Los Angeles exhibition 92 . Directors of the Gallery at Barnsdall Art Park . 1992 . Gudis . Catherine . Los Angeles . 115.
6. Web site: May 14, 1995. THEATER . 2024-07-16 . New York Times. .
7. Apple . Jacki . 2021 . Redefining Democracy in America: Episodes in Black and White, Part 1 . PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art . 43 . 1 . 126–138 . 10.1162/pajj_a_00554 . Project MUSE.
8. Web site: Medusa's Children . 2024-07-16 . Goodreads . en.