Elizabeth Shearer White

Elizabeth 'Liz' Shearer White (died 1993) was an American independent film producer[1] and founder of the Shearer Summer Theatre[2] in Martha's Vineyard. She is known for her stage production of Shakespeare's Othello with an all-black cast,[3] which she eventually filmed and released as a movie in 1980 at Howard University.[4]

White worked as an actress and dresser on Broadway before eventually returning to Oak Bluffs where she grew up.[5] There, she formed one of the first summer theatre groups on the island featuring the African-American residents and vacationers of Oak Bluffs.[5] The theatre group was active from 1946 up until the early 1960s.[5]

  1. ^ Ltd, Earl G. Graves (1981-08-01). Black Enterprise. Earl G. Graves, Ltd.
  2. ^ "Program for the Shearer Players' production of Angel Street | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  3. ^ Dresser, Thomas (2013-04-23). Women of Martha's Vineyard. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781614239307.
  4. ^ Brode, Douglas (2000-04-27). Shakespeare in the Movies: From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love. Oxford University Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780199728022. othello howard university 1980.
  5. ^ a b c "Black Summer Theatre's History Retold". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved 2017-03-01.