Playbill for The River Niger: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An off-white color-block paper playbill printed by Playbill for “The River Niger”.

On the top front of the playbill inside a pink, orange, and yellow color-block box is [PLAYBILL / MAGAZINE / BROOKS ATKINSON / THEATRE] in black ink. In the middle of the cover in large bold black type is [THE / RIVER NIGER].

On the inside of the playbill, a left page features a black-and-white photographic ad for Elizabeth Arden cosmetics. The right page (15) announces the play “The River Niger”. From the top in black type is [BROOKS ATKINSON / THEATRE / Under the direction of James and Joseph Nederlander / The River Niger is being presented on Broadway because of an overwhelming demand / for tickets which the Negro Ensemble was unable to fill during the play’s recent four- / month run at the St. Marks Playhouse. / For six seasons now, the NEC has been producing quality plays at our small 150-seat / home base theatre. / This unprecedented limited engagement on Broadway is note- / worthy. However, it does not mean that we are departing from our well established ac- / tivities as a non-profit producing institution and training program devoted to the con- / tinued growth and development of Black talents in every phase of theatre. / THE NEGRO ENSEMBLE COMPANY, INC. / presents / THE RIVER NIGER / by / JOSEPH A. WALKER / Directed by / DOUGLASS TURNER WARD / with / (Alphabetically) / GRAHAM BROWN / SAUNDRA MCCLAIN / ROXIE ROKER / CHARLES WELDON / FRANCES FOSTER / NEVILLE RICHEN / LENNAL WAINWRIGHT / DEAN IRBY / LES ROBERTS / DOUGLASS TURNER WARD / GRENNA WHITAKER / Lighting by / SHIRLEY PRENDERGAST / Set by / GARY JAMES WHEELER / Costumes by / EDNA WATSON / Incidental Music by / DOROTHY DINROE / Scenery and Costumes Supervised by / EDWARD BURBRIDGE / PREMIERED DECEMBER 5, 1972 AT ST. MARKS PLAYHOUSE / This play is dedicated to my mother and father and to highly underrate Black daddies everywhere. / --JOSEPH A. WALKER]. The rest of the interior consists of forty pages of text and advertisements. An Old Grand-Dad Whiskey ad is displayed below the play’s announcement. On the back of the playbill is an edge to edge color ad for Iceberg 10 cigarettes, depicted as a green and white striped carton in front of a white iceberg.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: April 1973
• Published by: Playbill, American, founded 1884
• Written by: Joseph A. Walker, American, 1935 - 2003
• Directed by: Douglas Turner Ward, born 1930
• Subject of: Negro Ensemble Company, American, founded 1967
• Subject of: Dean Irby, American
• Subject of: Charles Weldon, American, born 1940
• Subject of: Roxie Roker, American, 1929 - 1995
• Subject of: Lennal Wainwright, American
• Type: theater programs
• Medium: ink on paper, metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 9 × 5 5/8 × 1/8 in. (22.9 × 14.3 × 0.3 cm)
• Place used: Brooks Atkinson Theater, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Drama (Theatre)
• Topic: Theatre companies
• Object number: 2014.196.1
• 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: © Metromedia, Inc 1973 Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.