Sponsored by the Alexander Street Press, Black Drama is an ongoing database that plans to integrate approximately 1,200 "rare and hard-to-find plays written from the 1850s to the present by playwrights from North America, English speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African Diaspora countries." The collection will include previously unpublished plays by writers such as Ed Bullins, Randolph Edmonds, Femi Euba, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Willis Richardson, and many others. The collection currently contains 207 plays by 64 playwrights. Quarterly releases will be issued until the collection reaches its targeted goal. Searchable by actor, author, character, play, scene, or performance, plays are accompanied by reference materials, ancillary information, and a database of notable performances. A list of the collection's contents are freely accessible to the public; however, the actual database must be purchased and can be downloaded on a server via magnetic tape or CD-ROM. The first of its kind, this research collection of black theatre highlights and gives voice to the often unacknowledged variations of black life, culture, and creativity.