POSTED ON FEBRUARY 11, 2007 BY CONTRIBUTED BY: ANTHONY DUANE HILL The African Company was the first known black theatre troupe. In 1816, William Henry Brown (1815-1884), a retired West Indian steamship steward, acquired a house on Thomas Street in lower Manhattan, New York. He offered a variety of instrumental and vocal entertainments on Sunday afternoons in his tea garden, … More AFRICAN COMPANY / AFRICAN GROVE THEATRE