Playbill for "House of Shadows": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An off-white paper playbill printed by Playbill Magazine for “House of Shadows”.

On the front of the playbill in large black type is “PLAYBILL ® / THEATRE FOUR” printed inside a blue block. Below it in dramatic black font is “HOUSE OF SHADOWS”.

On the inside of the playbill, a left page features an edge to edge Marlboro cigarette ad photograph depicting a man on horseback. The right page announces the play “House of Shadows”. From the top, is: [THEATRE FOUR / 424 West 55th Street / (Near Nineth Avenue) / 246-8545] and the round Negro Ensemble Company logo. The page continues: [DOUGLASS TURNER WARD / Artistic Director / LEON B. DENMARK / Managing Director / presents / HOUSE OF SHADOWS / by / STEVE CARTER / with / TEDDY ABNER / FRANCES FOSTER/ RAYMOND ROSAIO / DANIEL BARTON / JOAN GRANT / VICTOR STEINBACH / Directed by / CLINTON TURNER DAVIS / Set Design / DANIEL M. PROETT / Original Music Composed by / GRENOLDO / Costume Design / JULIAN ASION / Lighting Design / SYLVESTER N. WEAVER, JR. / Sound Design / BERNARD HALL / Production Stage Manager / LISA L. WATSON

The back of the playbill features a Carlton menthol cigarette ad. In large black and red type it reads: [If you smoke / please try Carlton.] A small box with a surgeon general’s warning is printed in the bottom left corner. Beside it in the middle of the page are details about the cigarette carton.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1985
• Published by: Playbill, American, founded 1884
• Subject of: Negro Ensemble Company, American, founded 1967
• Subject of: Steve Carter
• Subject of: Dan Barton, American, 1921 - 2009
• Subject of: Frances Foster, American, 1924 - 1997
• Directed by: Clinton Turner Davis
• Directed by: Douglas Turner Ward, born 1930
• Directed by: Leon B. Denmark, American
• Type: playbills
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 8 1/2 × 5 5/8 × 1/8 in. (21.6 × 14.3 × 0.3 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Drama (Theatre)
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Theatre
• Topic: Theatre companies
• Object number: 2014.196.20
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Dr. Sandra Austin
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Playbill Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.