Showbill for "A Soldier's Play": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white paper showbill printed by Playbill for “A Soldier’s Play”.

On the front of the playbill in large black type is [SHOWBILL ® / THEATRE FOUR] printed inside a blue block. Below it is the very large round Negro Ensemble Company logo inside a black print block.

On the inside of the playbill, a left page features an ad for Delta Airlines, featuring a small image of two people at a tropical beach and a Delta plane with slogan at the bottom of the page. The right page announces the play “A Soldier’s Play”. From the top to bottom is: [THEATRE FOUR / 424 West 55th Street / (Near Ninth Avenue) / 246-8545] and the Negro Ensemble Company circular logo. The page continues: [DOUGLASS TURNER WARD / Artistic Director / LEON B. DENMARK / Managing Director / presents / A SOLDIER’S PLAY / by / CHARLES FULLER / with / CHARLES BROWN / SAMUEL L. JACKSON / EUGENE LEE / COTTER SMITH / ADOLPH CAESAR / BRENT JENNINGS / JAMES PICKENS, JR. / DENZEL WASHINGTON / PETER FRIEDMAN / STEVEN A. JONES / LARRY RILEY / STEPHEN ZETTLER / Directed by / DOUGLASS TURNER WARD / Scenery by / FELIX E. COCHREN / Lighting by / ALLEN LEE HUGHES / Costumes by / JUDY DEARING / Sound by / REGGE LIFE / Production Stage Manager / CLINTON TURNER DAVIS / WARNING / The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such / photographing or sound recording inside this theatre, without the written permission of the manage- / ment, is prohibited by law. / Violations may be punished by ejection and may render the offender liable / for money damages.]. A small grayscale ad for Dubonnet Wine is featured below the play’s information.

On the back of the showbill is an edge to edge color photographic ad for Galliano Liqueur. A small square image of two hands holding to the tall stems of liqueur filled glasses is featured against a black background. At the bottom of the ad is the Galliano slogan and a Galliano bottle and short, filled glass.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1981
• Published by: Playbill, American, founded 1884
• Subject of: Negro Ensemble Company, American, founded 1967
• Subject of: Charles Fuller, American, born 1939
• Subject of: James Pickens Jr., American, born 1954
• Subject of: Eugene Lee, American, born 1953
• Subject of: Adolph Caesar, American, 1933 - 1986
• Subject of: Denzel Washington, American, born 1954
• Subject of: Charles Brown, American, 1946 - 2004
• Type: playbills
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 8 15/16 × 5 5/8 × 1/8 in. (22.7 × 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: 2014.196.12
• 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: © American Theatre Press, Incorporated, 1981 Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.