Playbill for the Negro Ensemble Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A playbill (a) with insert (b) for the Negro Ensemble Company’s tour at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The playbill is printed in black on white paper. The front cover is divided into multiple rectangular sections, arranged vertically. The top sections include small print with theatre credits followed by a wide black band with “Aldwych Theatre” in white and “world theatre season ‘69” inside a white circle. The next three sections have “First visit to this country of the Negro Ensemble Company from New York,” followed by specific dates for performances of “Song of the Lusitanian Bogey” by Peter Weiss and “God is a (guess what?)” by Ray McIver. There are 20 interior pages with cast and crew information along with numerous full-page color advertisements. The back cover has a cigarette advertisement. The tri-fold insert (b) is printed in black on tan-colored paper. It includes information on the various theatre companies, including the Negro Ensemble Company that are participating in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s World Theatre Season 1969 at the Aldwych Theatre.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1969
• Distributed by: Aldwych Theatre, British, founded 1905
• Owned by: Clarice Taylor, American, 1917 - 2011
• Subject of: Negro Ensemble Company, American, founded 1967
• Subject of: Ray McIver, American, 1911 - 1984
• Type: playbills
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W (a. closed): 9 × 5 15/16 in. (22.8 × 15.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (a. open): 9 × 11 7/8 in. (22.8 × 30.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (b. closed): 8 1/2 × 5 5/8 in. (21.6 × 14.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (b. open): 8 1/2 × 17 3/16 in. (21.6 × 43.7 cm)
• Place used: London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Theatre
• Topic: Theatre companies
• Object number: 2013.188.38ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of William and James Thomas and family in memory of Clarice Taylor
• 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: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.