With this special issue of Performing Arts International, the papers and presentations from the Black Theatre in Higher Education Conference, held in London in April 1994 and organized by Hazel Carey and Ruth Tompsett, are made more widely available. It offers readers a chance to engage in debates on topical issues, to widen their knowledge and understanding of black performance, and to catch something of its spirit from the combination here of critical comment, practitioner insight, and personal testimony. For academics, critics, and practitioners alike, to study, attend, or participate in black theatre is to be engaged in a rich and diverse contemporary arts reality.