1950 · [Washington, D.C.
by [Dodson, Owen]. [African-American Theater]
[Washington, D.C., 1950. Very good plus.. Sepia-toned photograph, 8 x 10 inches, matted to overall size of 11 x 14 inches. Minimal surface wear, light wear to mat. A gorgeous still photograph from a scene of the stage play Boys Without Pennies, produced at Howard University in early 1950. A manuscript caption on the verso of the photograph reads, "Boys Without Pennies by Theodore Smith in Playwriting Class of O. Dodson, Howard U." The image is undated, but according to the January 27, 1950 edition of the Howard University campus newspaper, The Hilltop, the "original tragic play" was set to premiere on March 27, 1950. The author of the play, Theodore Smith is described in the article as "a member of the [Howard] 'Players' and a senior in the School of Liberal Arts." Smith apparently wrote the play while taking a playwriting class taught by legendary Howard University theater professor Owen Dodson (1914-1983), whose obituary in The New York Times begins: "Owen Dodson, a poet, novelist, playwright and teacher whose 20 years as a professor of drama at Howard University influenced the course of African-American drama, died of a heart attack yesterday." The present photograph is a striking display item, showing three forlorn African-American actors in the midst of a somber scene in which the young man in the foreground sits slumped over while holding a bottle of liquor. (Inventory #: 4580)