1960 - 1950 Theatrical Production History
1960 - 1950 Theatrical Production History
Embedded Files
Owen V. Dodson
After the departure of Anne M. Cooke in spring of 1958, Owen Dodson served as Acting Head of the Department of Drama.
In fall 1959 Dodson is officially appointed as "Head" of the Department of Drama and would serve in this role for nine years.
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Scroll down to review the 1960 - 1950 repository of the Howard Players theatrical production
1959/1960 - Owen V. Dodson, Head of Department of Drama
1959/1960 - Owen V. Dodson, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: Frank M. Snowden Jr, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Areas of Concentration: Dramatic Literature, Directing and Production, Acting, Design, Technical Production and Lighting
Staff: none listed
Faculty:
Professor - none
Associate Professor - Owen Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - William T. Brown
Instructor - none
Howard Players President: ?
On Being a Howard Player
Excerpt from interview with Robert Edward "Bob" West, class of 1964. Accessed 1996.
It was a warm October evening in 1960 I was talking to Louie when this girl, I call her a girl because she was my age and I was definitely not a man though I was twenty. Betty Broadnax saw me and said, "Chile, I need you to be in my play!" "Me," I exclaimed not being familiar with the term "Moi" at the time and she begged me to come by the theatre the next day. What was I doing? Had I lost my mind? Was I doing drugs? I showed up at Spaulding Hall the next day. Looked at the howitzer that sat to the left of the staircase and wondered what I was doing.
Spaulding Hall
Spaulding Hall housed the Book Store on the ground floor level and ROTC on the top floor. Entering the theatre had never been a matter of concern or interest to me. I looked at the staircase and began my climb.
The reason for fear was that I had heard for three years how "vicious" the Howard Players were. The Howard Players took no prisoners, yet I climbed the stairs and went into that ancient red painted building. I remember there were two or three people milling about and I told one of them that Betty Broadnax had asked that I come to the theatre.
They told me that she would be there soon so I sat in the office to wait for her. The office was an office in the broadest sense of the word. There was an entrance from the hallway that had a Dutch door. A second door was to the left and opened into the theatre. The third door housed the bathroom or rather housed the toilet and sink. Above the bathroom was a mystery place that I later learned was the lighting and sound booth.
In Spaulding Hall I experienced and appreciated my first opera, Turandot, played on the sound system. I had never heard anything so beautiful. Looking at the libretto and understanding the moment was a turning point in my cultural journey.
Talking to friends like Hiawatha Brown and St. Clair Christmas and their artistic experiences, helped my fusion of the arts.
Through a series of fortunate circumstances I could learn and retain lines very quickly. I did worry about how I was going to climb the ten foot ladder that was to be placed outside the stage window so that actors could enter from the dressing rooms in another building. This ladder was also used for actors who had to make a crossover off stage.
On the day that the show opened--the Gods do tend to the fat and happy--the sky opened and it snowed and snowed like a northern blizzard. We were forced to use the upstairs quarters of the ROTC.
The cast marched into the theatre during a blackout and went to our appropriate places left and right. SAVED!
We performed during a snow week that December 1960 and I am now a working Howard Player caught up in the magic of fooling people and it is OK.
During this time, between October and December of my discovery of my drive toward theatre, I made friends with a young freshman who wanted to be a theatrical designer, Samuel Augustus Wright from Chicago.
Sam had a spark about him that excited me into looking at what he was doing while the rest of us were on stage. Sam introduced me to the fun of technical theatre.
New Fine Arts Building Complex
He had said that there was a new theatre that we would be moving into in January. I knew this because of my architecture background. I had watched the construction of the Fine Arts building with the Cramton Auditorium and Ira Aldridge Theatre. I had been there watching the demolition of old Clark Hall through the digging of foundations and erection of the steel.
Sam had said that he had not been into the theatre yet because they guarded it. My training as a campus brat kicked into high gear and I took Sam on his first trip through the theatre. It was simple. Each of us carried a Fresnel and a clipboard and walked purposely to the front door of the Fine Arts building. We turned left and down the hall until we came into the shop and the Ira Aldridge Theatre on the left. It was marvelous. Sam was running around looking at things while I was becoming mesmerized by the effect of standing on an empty stage.
There is no feeling like it on earth. To stand on an empty stage and dream of what can happen.
Sam found the Fire Curtain and cussed when it would not move after he hit the switch. The devil in me kicked into high gear and I asked him if he really wanted to see the fire curtain drop. he said yes. I knew how to trip a fire curtain and further knew that I could "catch" it as it fell because it was counter balanced. So I triped the curtain, caught the curtain. Sam and I had a good laugh and then we crept out of the theatre.
On a second visit to the theatre we discovered that the door leading into Cramton was open. So we, the Two Musketeers, venture into Cramton that had a work light on the patch panel and the rest of the place was dark. Sam and I were center stage planning our tactics for always being able to sneak into Cramton to see everything when a voice out of the dark said, "Can I help you?" With only a moment of panic either Sam or I said, "No, we are just looking." We may have mentioned that we were theatre majors and that is how we met Ralph T. Dines, who was working in the south cove doing some wiring. The three of us became friends and we showed up daily to spy and help Dines.
One day he asked, "Did you get your money?" We had been hired and paid for the work that we thought that we were giving. So our scheme to see all the shows in Cramton worked because we were the workers for the very first crew in Cramton.
Fall Semester 1959 (no season theme)
MEDEA written by Euripides. Adapted by Countee Cullen
Conceived and directed by Owen Dodson.
Date: Nov. 3-7, 1959
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Chassie Lynch, Gene Banki, James W. Butcher (faculty), Helmar, Judy Spain, Horacina Taylor, Van Buren Jones, Antoinette Lymus, Winston McAllister Jr, James Stanmore, Helen Barnes, Walter Walker, Patricia Edwards, Barbara Lockhart, Barbara Lewis, Henry Reed, William Carr, Charles Davis, Merle Wiliams, Adriene Britt, Cynthia Bryant, Hope clark, Brenda Wright, Theodore Avery, Jesse Scott, Charles Tinsley, Donald Bowman
Design/Creative: Kermit K. Keith, Set Design. William Brown, Lighting. Jones-Haywood, Choreography, Judy Patterson. William Madden, Music
Stage Manager: Jeanette Burrell, Stage Manager. Marie Jones, Assistant Manager
OTHER DEPARTMENTAL ACHIEVEMENTS
The Howard Players won second prize for a float entered in competition at the Homecoming Parade, October 1959
March 19, 1960: The Department participated in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Jabberwock 1960 with "Intellectuals in Static Chit Chat" written by student Ethel Mack and directed by Jeanette Burrell. The paly was awarded third prize.
Evening Star. March 18, 1960. Pg. B-14
The Evening Star. Feb. 14, 1960. Pg. D-2
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 9-22-1959" (1959). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 72. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/72
Spring Semester 1960 (no season theme)
THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF OUR LIFE written by John Dighton (a comedy farce)
Directed by James W. Butcher
Date: Jan. 13-16, 1960
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Barbara Lewis, Donald Hall, Marie Jones, Becky West, Oscar Criner
Design: William T. Brown, Set & Lighting Design
JULIUS CAESAR written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: May 2-7, 1960
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Marcelleus Winston, Donald Hall, James W. Butcher (faculty), Sheila Gregory, Helmar Cooper, Betty Broadnax,
Design: William T. Brown, Set & Lighting Design.
The skeleton setting was designed with strong, abstract simplicity so that the spectator is not reminded of a given period. It is a s if these events could have happened anywhere, in any time or place.
The senior majors in Production Seminar class produced:
STUDENT DIRECTED PLAYS
WINTERSET written by Maxwell Anderson
Directed by Chassie Lynch
TWO FOR THE SEASAW by William Gibson
Directed by Mark Nearman
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE written by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Bette C. King
DARK OF THE MOON written by Howard Richardson and William Berney
Date: April 21-25, 1960
<-- New Fine Arts Building Complex is under construction. Article to left.
1958/1959 - Owen V. Dodson, Acting Head of Department of Drama
1958/1959 - Owen V. Dodson, Acting Head of Department of Drama
Dean: Frank M. Snowden Jr, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Areas of Concentration: Dramatic Literature, Directing and Production, Acting, Design, Technical Production and Lighting
Staff: none listed
Faculty:
Professor - none
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - William T. Brown
Instructor - none
Howard Players President: ?
Excerpt from 1958/59 College of Liberal Arts Annual Report, Department of Drama section
Pg. 155...The work of the Department of Drama this year has been divided among four inter-related areas: the purely academic, the major productions open to the public, studio productions directed by drama majors open to the University family, and community services.
Major Productions: These productions and the studio productions are laboratories where the students have the opportunity to practice what they have learned in class.
Fall Semester 1958 (no season theme)
NOAH written by Andre Obey
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: Oct. 30, 31 Nov. 1, 1958
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: James Butcher (faculty), Judith Eason, James Wilson, James Scott, Ramond Butler, Barbara clark, Chassie Lynch, P. Merle Williams, Charles Adams, Charles Johnson, Vernon Jackson, Dorothy Slaughter, Jerome Schuman, Winifred Freeman, Charleston Lee
Design/Creative: James W. Butcher & Owen Dodson, Décor. Louis Horst, Music
Stage Management: Winifred Freman, Stage Manager. Marie Jones, Assistant Stage Manager
TWILIGHT CRANE written by Junjo Kinoshita
Directed by Kimi Kimura
Date: Dec. 11-13, 1958
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
HOME SHORE written by Carl Gardner
Directed by Mark Nearman
Date: Dec 11-13, 1958
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Winner of the first Ingram Merrill Playwriting Contest at Howard University
STUDIO PRODUCTIONS: Directed by Majors, supervised by the faculty
TEA AND SYMPATHY by Robert Anderson. Directed by Ben Williams
MEMBER OF THE WEDDING by Carson McCullers. Directed by Beverly Barnes
THE FATHER by August Strindberg. Directed by Joyce Scott
STUDIO PRODUCTIONS II: Directed by Juniors
THE HAPPY JOURNEY by Thornton Wilder. Directed by Chassie Lynch
THE BROWNING VERSION by Terrance Rattigan. Directed by Adrienne Britt
27 WAGONLOADS OF COTTON by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Bette King
THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL by Anton Chekhov. Directed by Jeanette Burrell
HERE WE ARE by Dorothy Parker. Directed by P. merle Williams
The Drama Department and the Howard Players participated in the Intercollegiate Drama Association Produced at Virginia State College. April 3-4, 1959. They presented scenes from Macbeth, Richard III, and Romeo and Juliet and The First Born by Christopher Fry.
The Department of Drama and the Howard Players performed at the Student-Faculty Talent Show (scene from Maxwell Anderson's Winterset) and participated in the annual May Festival at Howard University.
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 3-27-1959" (1959). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 67. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/67
The Howard Players under the supervision of the Department of Drama performed at:
Spingarn High School, May 1959
Banneker Junior High School, February 1959
Garnet Patterson Junior High School, Dec. 1958
Statler Hotel for the annual convocation of the National Council of Negro Women, Nov. 15, 1958
Spring Semester 1959 (no season theme)
MACBETH written by Shakespeare
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: Feb. 17-21, 1959
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
2. SIMPLY HEAVEN (Musical) written by Langston Hughes
Directed by James Butcher
Date: April 29, May 1-2, 1959
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Marion Himes, Martin J.Lewis Jr. Chassie Lynch, Alpha Coles, P. Merle Williams, Vernon Jackson, Sam Grady, Frank Jordan, Hugh Stroud, Donald Hall, Bradford Griffin, Anne Y. Eastman, Angelo Braxton, Phyllis Chester, Dorothy Smith, Doreese Duncan
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 10-31-1958" (1958). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 59. https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/59
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 10-31-1958" (1958). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 59. https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/59
1957/1958 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1957/1958 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: Frank M. Snowden Jr, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Areas of Concentration: Dramatic Literature, Directing and Production, Acting, Design, Technical Production and Lighting
Staff:
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke (final year at Howard)
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher (on sabbatical)
Assistant Professor - none
Instructor - none
Howard Players President: ?
Anne Cooke Reid, a Washington, D.C. native grew up in Pennsylvania, Ohio. Indiana and Illinois. Where her father, an architect supervised construction of U. S. pot offices.
Below is a transcribed audio recording of Anne Cooke-Reid speaking about her time on faculty at Howard University 1947-1958. She mentions her experience with the Howard Players and the Department of Drama.
Cooke-Reid: In 1921 the Howard Players was an extra curricular student organization created by Alain Locke and Montgomery Gregory. Sterling Brown picked up and directed the Howard Players after Gregory left. Cook-Reid took over the Players from professor Sterling Brown. Brown continued to act in the plays and he taught the students literature and writing in his classes.
I came to Howard to establish an academic department which was to train undergraduates in the basics of the theatre arts in general. It was related to the concept and philosophy of the humanities. Technical courses in movement, speech and acting. My philosophy was that Theatre belonged to the arts. Every art is built on its craft. Despite genius, one learns his craft. Give the students a sense of I CAN. By learning what was involved in the variety of the total craft of theatre.
Students worked in all areas of the theatre. Including writing. As there were sufficient number of students there was a seminar in writing and Owen Dodson took over that training. The point of view was that theatre is a communal art, a popular art and a world art. It was important for our students to know the entire spectrum of world theatre.
The responsibility I saw was three fold 1.) Train those students who wanted the basics. Not to become great stars with just 4 years who could in the basics. To have a broad view of the theatre and its relationship to the humanities and the arts. To develop eye and ear. 2.) To serve as a performing center for all of the students. All students had the opportunity to see what world theatre was like. 3.) Because there was no professional theatre in the community we felt we had a responsibility to provide performances for the community. Our audiences were at least half and half members of the Washington Community and members from the larger Howard University community.
Anne M. Cooke, circa 1920. (above)
From: Parry, Betty, The Word Works, Inc., and Folger Shakespeare Library, “In the Shadow of the Capitol: Theater in Segregated Washington,” DC Digital Museum, accessed September 6, 2017, http://www.wdchumanities.org/dcdm/items/show/1190
Our concern was with the fact that world theatre is a part of which would be folk and what we today would call ethnic theatre. A special reason that the department which included James Butcher, Owen Dodsen and Cooke-Reid...(the rest is unintelligible)
American theatre and drama present very few roles for black people for people of color. Which presented stereotypes. The opportunities for training and expression was narrow. My thinking was to be prepared to go out and attack this world as actors designers, playwrights and they needed to explore as interpretive artists as creative artists the entire spectrum as I have already said...(the rest is unintelligible) In all ways to fight the meaning of what theater really is, the dangers of the stereotype. That explains in general why the approach to theatre was what it was.
Theatre in a segregated community
Growing up in Washington wasn’t so difficult. There was access to many things. The young person growing up in Washington was not deprived of these kinds of things. When you are learning your craft you must have a model and know what’s best in your field. You must have something for which you are working towards. I can go to the library and read the best. I can go to the Philips or National gallery to see the best. But theatre is a cumulative thing and you cannot sense it and you don’t know what the ideal is unless you can see theatre. Even the vocalist can hear a great artist perform. The young artist can hear and say "Ah" that’s what they are talking about. The theatre student does not have that model set for him. The danger is whether it is segregation or isolation the tendency is that one sense of what is fit and good drops and a low ceiling of excellence in performance sets in.
No matter how good the students are at theatre arts, but you were living in a place where you could say now students go out and see what we’re talking about regarding excellence.
I remember in 1948 my second year here we selected to do a play by Ibsen, The Wild Duck and it was my turn to go on first and Ibsen was someone I was interested at the time. I directed the play and it was worked out that the Howard players and the three faculty members traveled to Europe to perform.”
Fall Semester 1957 (no season theme)
THREE STUDIO PRODUCTIONS;
Direction: Anne M. Cooke
Date: Nov. 7-9, 1957
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Fred Eady, Marjorie Payton, Beverly Barnes, Joyce Scott, Chasie Lynch, Walter Julio, Jimmy Brown, Danny Shaw, Lois Mitchell
OVERTONES written by Alice Gerstenberg
BURY THE DEAD written by Irwin Shaw
HELLO OUT THERE written by William Saroyan
On an experimental basis, presented purely for entertainment value, the Howard Players present their first of three studio productions for the academic year 1957-1958. The plays are for the purpose of giving newcomers and opportunity to try their luck at acting. Discussions were held with the audiences, cast and directors after each performance.
THE INCARNATE WORD with the University Choir
Date: Dec. 14-15, 1957
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 10-16-1957" (1957). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 45. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/45
Excerpt from 1957/58 College of Liberal Arts Annual Report, Department of Drama section
Pg. 105...A strong evidence of improvement in instruction has been reflected in the markedly increased support of productions directed and produced by student majors. Hatful of Rain played three performances to standing-room audiences. The Silver Cord played to a similar student audience.
Students in Educational Drama had the opportunity for apprenticeships in the Public Scools and District Recreation Department. They assisted in the coaching and staging of Macbeth at Cardozo High School for one month and assisted in the Children Theatre production of Pinocchio. This cooperation is now established and will be enlarged upon each year.
Carl Gardner, a student in the Playwriting Seminar had a vignette, written in Seminar, published in the May 1958 issue of The Northwestern Review.
There have been no significant curriculum changes. This is the first year the department has enforced its sequence for majors and minors, and in view of that, curriculum changes seem inadvisable.
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 5-17-1958" (1958). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 56. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/56
Spring Semester 1958 (no season theme).
THE MENAECHMI written by Plautus
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: Feb. 13-15, 1958
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Article to left: James Butcher returns from sabbatical leave in Liberia
Article below: Planning underway for new Fine Arts Center
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 5-17-1958" (1958). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 56. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/56
The Music Educators National Conference (Student Chapter) presents:
THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE (Opera. Permiere performance) Music by Mark Fax. Libretto by Owen V. Dodson
Directed by Owen V. Dodson
Date: March 6-8, 1958
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Patricia Johnson, Mildred Pearson, Kemper Hoffler, Grace Bradford, Samuel Tunstall, Claude Lee Green, George Harshaw, Herbert Quarles, Earl Carter, Oscar Eaves, Jesse Fax, Odell Hobbs, Alphonso Patterson, James Polk, Austen Thomas, John Weston, Bernard Willis
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
1956/1957 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1956/1957 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: Frank M. Snowden Jr, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Areas of Concentration: Dramatic Literature, Directing and Production, Acting, Design, Technical Production and Lighting
Staff: none indicated
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - none
Instructor - none
Howard Players President: ?
Excerpts from 1956/1957 College of Liberal Arts Annual Report, Department of Drama section
Pg. 70...The Department of Drama has. initiated no significant curriculum changes but it has followed the suggestions of the Dean's office and set up a more rigid course of study for its majors' curriculum.
The Department is one of the dozen theatre centers in America selected by the State Department , the Carnegie Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and ANTA to be visited and studied by theatre leaders and authorities around the world when they are in this country. This year the Department has entertained visitors from India, the Union of South Africa, Korea, Hawaii and Venezuela.
Fall Semester 1956 (no season theme)
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED written by Leonid Andreyev
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: Nov. 7-10, 1956
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Ray Spriggs, James Brown, Richard Jackson, Douglas Stafford, Portia Robb, Doris Duncan, Chassie Lybnch, West Brown, James W. Butcher (faculty), George Johnson, Sylvia Stratton, Leander Gray, Owen Dodson (faculty), Jean Morris, Chester Boyd, Alfred Spellman
Design: Vantile Whitfield, Set Designer. Thomas Unthank, Costumes
Stage Management: Fred Eady, Stage Manager. Kay Lindsay, Assistant Stage Manager
SACRIFICE by Rabindranath Tagore
Date: Dec. 12-15, 1956
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
DON JUAN IN HELL written by G. B. Shaw
Directed by student Joe Walker
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: with faculty and students
The Evening Star. November 9, 1956 Pg. A-28
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 2-11-1957" (1957). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 38. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/38
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 3-13-1957" (1957). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 40. http://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/40
Spring Semester 1957 (no season theme)
THE NIGHT OF JANUARY 16th
Directed by student Tom Harris
Date: Jan. 9-12, 1957
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
FAMILY PORTRAIT written by Eleanor Coffee & William J. Cowen
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: Feb. 25, 1957
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Ester Coles, Ruth Fuller, Peggy Frazier, Marjorie Peyton, Chassie Lynch, Theodore Brooks, Herman Phillips, Jesse Scott, Wayne Fowler, Joe Walker, Norman Wilson, Vantile Whitfield
Design: Thomas Untank, Lighting & Set Design. Lois Mitchell & Anne M. Cooke, Costumes
LOST IN THE STARS (from Cry the Beloved Country)
Date: Feb. 26, 28. March 1,2, 1957
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
THE IMMACULATE WORD with the University Choir
Bayou Legend Reviews
BAYOU LEGEND written by Owen Dodson
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: April 24-27, 2957
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: George Johnson, Marjorie Peyton, Norman Wilson, Bennett Spellman, Vantile Whitfield, Sandra Hargraves
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 4-11-1957" (1957). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 42. https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/42
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 6-1-1957" (1957). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 43. https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/43
1955/1956 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1955/1956 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: J. St. Clair Price, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Staff:
Howard Players President: ?
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - none
Instructor - none
Excerpts from 1955/1956 College of Liberal Arts Annual Report, Department of Drama section
Pg. 52...The Department of Drama of Howard University was fortunte in having its first professional director, Stein Bugge, a director and playwright from the Norwegian State Theatre, as a guest director and lecturer from October to December 1955. He directed the premier performance of Ludvig Holberg's Den Stunderslose (The Whirligig).
Pg. 54...Edmond Jenkins, 1953 received the M.F.A. degree from Western Reserve, 1956
Fall Semester 1955 (no season theme)
WHIRLIGIG written by Ludvig Holberg
Directed by Stein Bugge
Date: Nov. 11, 1955
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Plays written in Owen Dodson's Playwriting Seminar:
BROTHERS by Jessie Scott
PHYLLIS by Ethel Mack
INTELLECTUALS IN STATIC CHIT-CHAT by Ethel Mack
TO SEEK AND TO FIND by Paul Wilson
NOEL by Cuthbert Callender
OUT OF THE DEN by Joseph Walker
WHEN SILK BRUISES by Alfred Spellman
NOBODY KNOWS by Jessie Scott
The Evening Star, Washington DC. Friday, Nov. 11, 1955. Pg. C-7
Spring Semester 1956 (no season theme)
PICNIC written by William Inge
Directed by James W. Butcher, Jr.
Date: Feb. 22, 1956
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Benefit performance for the Howard Faculty Wives
Cast: Myrtle Grays, Joe Walker, Isaac Cummings, Marjorie Payton, Peggy Jones, Dorothy Dawson, Ethel Mack, Paul Wilson, Barbara Johnson, Naomi Nickerson, George Johnson
Design: Thomas Unthank, Sets Design
Stage Management: E. Taellorini, Stage Manager. Barbara Sirkouski, Assistant Stage Manager
PYGMALION written by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: April 11, 1956
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Benefit performance for the D.C. Alumni Association
April 29, 1956 performance for Baltimore Alumni Association
CHITRA written by Rabindranath Tagore
Directed by Owen Dodson
At the request of the Indian Embassy at the Department of Agriculture Auditorium
Date: May 29, 1956
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Experimental Studio Productions:
AIR RAID by Archibald MacLeish
Directed by Owen Dodson
HAPPY JOURNEY by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 30 May 1956. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1956-05-30/ed-1/seq-39/>
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 14 Jan. 1956. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1956-01-14/ed-1/seq-14/>
1954/1955 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1954/1955 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: J. St. Clair Price, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Staff:
Howard Players President: ?
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - none
Instructor - none
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 15 Nov. 1954. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1954-11-15/ed-1/seq-45/>
Fall Semester 1954 (no season theme)
TAMING OF THE SHREW written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: Fall 1954
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: James W. Butcher (faculty), Geraldine Baker, Lloyd Beckford.
Design: Owen Dodson, Set Design
IPHIGENIA IN AULIS by Euripides
Directed by Anne Cooke
Date: Fall 1954
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
SUMMER AND SMOKE by Tennessee Williams
Directed by James W. Butcher
Date: Fall 1954
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 02 Nov. 1954. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1954-11-02/ed-1/seq-33/
Spring Semester 1955 (no season theme)
FINIANS RAINBOW book by R. Y. Harburg & Fred Saidy. Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg. Music by Burton Lane
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: Feb. 16-19, 1955
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Lynwood Harris, Herb Davis, James Doherty, Lucille Sayles, Hazel Swann, Barbara Ann Miller, Jesse Fax, Carol Ekberg, James W. Butcher (faculty), Llena Johnson, Victor Wright, Joseph Walker, James Brown, George Johnson, Sterling Brown (faculty), Phillip Spiekerman, Leon Jackson, Loretta Hicks, Shirlee Patterson, Prince Ali, Don Reeder, Joe Hoff, Nigel Ayton, William Carson, Mary Cosby, Lois Mitchell, Ethel Mack, Armory Brunot, Isaac Cummings, Helen Wilson, Elmer Ball, Barbara Johnson, Nathaniel MacRay, Sylvester Campbell, Judy Patterson, Carleton Johnson, Bill Garney, Theresa Wilkins, James Fairfax, Brenda Anderson, Ramona Gordon, Tommy Russell, Yvonne Levy, Michelle Vess, Annette Miller
Design: Doris W Jones & Claire H. Haywood, Choreography. Mark Fax, Musical Direction. Thomas Unthank, Scenery & Lighting. Anne Cooke, Costumes
Stage Management: Gerri Baker
THE AMEN CORNER written by James Baldwin (World Premier)
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: May 11-14, 1955
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Shirlee Patterson, Hazel Swann, Eddie Marcus, Jr, Mildred Ellis, Arthur Aveilhe, Samella B. Everett, Don Reeder, Lucille Sayles, Joseph Walker, James Martin, Jean Anderson, Isabella Adona, Ruby Banner, Earlene Costner, Carol Eckburg, Roger Hunt, Charmaine Keyes, Bette King, Madeline King, Eleanor Rhodes
Design: Leon West, Setting. Thomas Unthank, Lighting. Anne M. Cooke, Costumes.
Stage Management: Isaac Cummings
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 05 Feb. 1955. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1955-02-05/ed-1/seq-11/>
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 09 May 1955. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1955-05-09/ed-1/seq-16/>
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
1953/1954 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1953/1954 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: J. St. Clair Price, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Staff:
Howard Players President: ?
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - none
Instructor - none
Excerpt from 1953-1954 College of Liberal Arts Annual Report, Department of Drama Section
Pg. 61... Miss Shauneille Perry, Class of '50, M.F.A. Chicago Art Institute, 1952m received a Fulbright Grand and admission to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, for study 1954-55.
Mr. William Brown, Class of '51, M.F.A. Western Reserve University, 1954; has been appointed Technical Director at Karamu House, Cleveland, Ohio
Summer 1953 - Howard University Summer Theatre (final summer)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 23 July 1953. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1953-07-23/ed-1/seq-26/
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 11 July 1953. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1953-07-11/ed-1/seq-39/
Fall Semester 1953 (no season theme)
THE GRASS HARP written by Truman Capote
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: Oct. 28-31, 1953
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Hazel Swan, George Marshall, Alice Davenport, Lucille Sayles, Cornelius Weeks, Nellie Swinson, Ronald Palmer, Roger Hunt, Ethel Mack, Frank Render, Joseph Walker, Gloria Thomas, Herb Davis, Bettye King, Janet Roberts,
Design: James W. Butcher, Technical Director. Bettye Stokes, Costumes. Stewart B. Moss & Edward E. Harvey, Lighting. Charles-Henry Hughes, Settings.
Stage Management: George Johnson
Spring Semester 1954 (no season theme)
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER written by Oliver Goldsmith
Directed by James Butcher
Date: Feb. 24-27, 1954
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER written by Oliver Goldsmith
Date: April 28, 1954
Produced at Virginia Union University as a special feature on their Festival of Fine Arts
ANTIGONE written by Jean Anouilh
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: May 28-31, 1954
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Anne Jenkins, Norman Fitz
Howard University, "The Bison: 1954" (1954). Howard University Yearbooks. 123. https://dh.howard.edu/bison_yearbooks/123
1952/1953 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1952/1953 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: J. St. Clair Price, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Staff: none indicated
Howard Players President: ?
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson, James W. Butcher
Assistant Professor - none
Instructor - none
Summer 1952 - Howard University Summer Theatre
The Evening Star. June 30, 1952. Pg. A-14
THE WORD written by Kaj Munk (Musical)
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: July 1952
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Earle Hyman (professional actor)
Premiere Washington DC Production
THE FAMILY REUNION written by T.S. Elliott
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: July 23-27, 1952
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 02 July 1952. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1952-07-02/ed-1/seq-57/>
Fall Semester 1952 (no season theme)
Collection, Channing Pollock, "“Jeb” 1952" (1952). Theatre Programs. 2. https://dh.howard.edu/africana_theatre/2. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Africana Theatre and Dance Collection at Digital Howard @ Howard University.
2. JEB written by Robert Ardrey
Directed by James W. Butcher
Date: Dec. 10-13, 1952
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Roland Noel, Ellis Haizlip, Toni Wofford/Morrison, Edmond Jenkins, Theodis Shine, Teddy Lowe, George Johnson, James Mack, Calvin Gibson, Collen Carmichael, Eunice Jenkins, France Thornton, Leon Jackson, Colston Stewart, james Gipson, Wallace Culver, Joan Marie Fitzgerald, Mallary Fitzpatrick, William B. Tollen, Roland Gomez, Ernest Downing, Norman Fitz
Design: Owen Dodson, Set Design. Edward Harvey, Lighting
Stage Management: Ellis Haizlip. Carolyn Sprague, Assistant Stage Manager
The Howard Players were invited a second time to tour Europe. The invitation was extended by the Experiment in International Living, Putney, Vt.
At the request of the American Embassy in Havana, Cuba, a picture-story of Drama at Howard University was sent on tour through-out Cuba.
Collection, Channing Pollock, "“The Time of Your life” 1952" (1952). Theatre Programs. 10. https://dh.howard.edu/africana_theatre/2. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Africana Theatre and Dance Collection at Digital Howard @ Howard University.
THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE written by William Saroyan
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: Nov. 5-8, 1952
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Charles Scott, Calvin A. Gibson, Joseph Walker, James W. Butcher (faculty), George Johnson, Ed Harding, Anne Jenkins, Theodore Lowe, Alfred Hill, James Mack, Mary Nelson, Eugene C. Eskridge, R. Meredith Watson, Geraldine Baker, Norman S. Wilson, Eddie Howard Johnson, Edmond Jenkins, Charles Nelson, Toni Wofford/Morrison, Carolyn Sprague, Lois Baskerville, Yvonne King, Theodis Shine
Design: Owen Dodson, Set Design. Theodis Shine, Lighting. Yvette Bickham, Costumes
Stage Management: Frances Thornton, Stage Manager
King Richard III. James Butcher as Richard. Moorland Spingarn Research Center
Spring Semester 1953 (no season theme)
KING RICHARD III written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: March 11-14, 1953
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Ronald Palmer, Chester Boyd, Toni Wofford/Morrison, Avery MacRae, Colston Stewart, Norman Fitz, James W. Butcher (faculty), Geraldine Baker, David McAdams, Ernest Downing, Edward Hall, Sergio Dello Strologo, Clarence Page, John Coursey, Joseph Walker, Theodore Lowe, George Johnson, Samuel Britten, Chester Boyd, mary Nelson, Alice Davenport, Stanley Paige, Charles Hughes, James Fox, Edward.
Spaights, Hilda Stone, Delores Weaver, Louella Stanton, Samella Berry, jeanette Bowser, Alonzon Harden, William J. Jefferson Jr
Design/Creative: Anne M. Cooke, Speech Coach. Mark Fax, Music. Kermit Keith, Scenery
Stage Management: Bettye Stokes, Stage Manager. Anne Jenkins, Assistant Stage Manager
THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA written by Frederico Garcia-Lorca
Directed by Anne M. Cooke
Date: May 5-8, 1953
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Festival of Fine Arts production
Date: May 20, 1953
Produced at Armstrong High School sponsored by the Dunbar High School Parent Teacher Association
Design: Kermit Keith, Set Design. James T. Butcher, Lighting
Marvin Mcallister Interview Speaking on Toni Morrison & Shakespeare:
MCALLISTER: Well, she came to Howard in the late 1940s as a student.
I think she actually started out as a theater major, and so she comes into the picture because she played a role in a production of Richard III, which was directed by Owen Dodson and starred a professor at the university, James Butcher, as Richard, and at the time her name was Toni Wofford.
And so, in the production, she played Queen Elizabeth, and the neat thing about this particular production, though...
So they did the production around like 1950, 1951, but in June of 1951, they got the opportunity to do scenes from the production on TV. WMAL-TV, Channel 7 in DC, had this talent show called "The Washington Showcase."
And so, it was like a nine-minute show, and on the showcase, different contestants could compete in acting scenes and they could win cash prizes, they could be voted best actor or actress, and they could also, the ultimate prize was to win a Hollywood screen test.
And so what Howard did was, they took a couple scenes from their production of Richard III...
I think, like Act 1, Scene 2, and Act 4, Scene 4, the scenes that featured the royal women, and they brought in Toni Wofford, or Toni Morrison, as Queen Elizabeth, Mary Nelson, and another actress named Juanita Tolson.
Now, I don't know if they won the contest, if they were voted best actress or actor or that kind of thing, but it was a really interesting experience for the students to film their Shakespearean scenes and the scenes were, of course, broadcast, June 25, 1951, at 10:30 on local television.
https://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/shakespeare-black-white Accessed July 2017.To Righ: Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 25 June 1953. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1953-06-25/ed-1/seq-3/
Photo Credit: Moorland-Spingarn Research Center
1951/1952 - Owen V. Dodson, Acting Head of Department of Drama
1951/1952 - Owen V. Dodson, Acting Head of Department of Drama
Dean: J. St. Clair Price, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Staff: none indicated
Howard Players : Mary Nelson (president), Edward Washington (vice president), Roxie Roker (recording secretary), Lois Baskerville (corresponding secretary), Edmond Jenkins (treasurer)
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke (on sabbatical leave for research in theatre under a Fulbright Grant. During the term of this award Dr. Cooke was affiliated with the University of Oslo, Norway.)
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson
Assistant Professor - James W. Butcher
Instructor - none
Temporary Replacement - William Brown, Teaching Assistant in Drama. B.A. Howard University (partial replacement for Dr. Anne Cooke)
Summer 1951 - Howard University Summer Theatre
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
HAMLET written by Shakespeare
Directed by Owen Dodson
The Howard University Summer Theatre School
Date: July 18-21, 1951
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Earle Hyman (Actor's Equity professional actor), Carolyn Hill Stewart (Actor's Equity professional actress), Austin Briggs-Hall (Actor's Equity professional actor), Claire Leyba (Actor's Equity professional actress), Frederick Wilkerson, Robert Brown, Louis Stanley Paige, Norman Fitz, Alex Bussey, Chester Boyd, John Eiland, William Coggie, Agnes McRae, Chester Boyd, Avery McRae, Herb Davis, Wilburn Wright, Marion Cunningham, Ted Murray, Warren Tilley, Julia Evans, Eudora Webster, Murray Threadgill, Oceola Walden, Charles Scott
Design/Creative: Kermit Keith, Set & Program Design. William Bondhill & Edward Harvey, Lighting Design. Martha Carr, Costume Design. Doris Sorell, Dramatic Coach. David Amram, Director of Music. Frank M. Snowden Jr, Director of The Summer School
Stage Management: Herb Davis, Stage Manager. Oceola Walden, Assistant Stage Manager.
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/2331 Accessed April 27, 2022
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 21 July 1951. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1951-07-21/ed-1/seq-35/
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 15 July 1951. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1951-07-15/ed-1/seq-52/
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 17 July 1951. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1951-07-17/ed-1/seq-20/
Howard University, "The Bison: 1952" (1952). Howard University Yearbooks. 121. https://dh.howard.edu/bison_yearbooks/121
Fall Semester 1951 (no season theme)
The Howard Players are members of the Intercollegiate Dramatic Association
AN INSPECTOR CALLS written by J. B. Priestley
Directed by James W. Butcher
Date: Dec. 4-8, 1951
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Edmond Jenkins, Ernest Downing, Edward Hall, Theodore Lowe, Lillian Goode, Francis Thorton, Roxie Roker, Mary Nelson, Betty Shad, Theodis "Ted" Shine, Edmere Winfield, Edward Washington
Design: William Brown and Owen Dodson, Settings. Gloria Toote, Lighting. Martha Carr, Costumes
Stage Management: Thomasine Adams, Stage Manager
THE BROME ABRAHAM AND ISAAC: a Medieval Mystery Play
Directed by William T. Brown
Design: Kermit K. Keith, Set Designer
College of Fine Arts Festival Play
Staff, Hilltop, "The Hilltop 11-26-1951" (1951). The Hilltop: 1950-60. 12. https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_195060/12
Spring Semester 1952 (no season theme)
Excerpt from 1951-1952 College of Liberal Arts Annual Report, Department of Drama Section
Pg. 112...Roxie Roker, 1952, a former drama major, sails for England in June to attend the summer session of the University of Birmingham, Stratford-on-Avon period, to study Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama
Thirty-six Howard Players attend the annual festival of the Intercollegiate Dramatic association held at Morgan College, April 7, 18, 19, 1952; presented three one act plays written and directed by Howard University students
Miss Helen Channing Pollock in presenting the University with The Channing Pollock Theatre Collection remarked that the reputation of the Players and their trip to Europe in 1949 was responsible for her decision to give the collection to Howard.
ALCESTIS written by Euripides
Directed by Owen Dodson
Date: Feb. 12-16, 1952
Produced in Spaulding Hall
Cast: Ernest Downing, David Robinson, Ed Hall, Gloria Toote, David McAdams, Norman Fitz, Wilveria Bass, Samella Berry, Geraldine Baker, Jeannette Browser, Jaunita Colson, Eugene Eskridge, Betty Shadd, Richard Smith, Bettye Stokes, Edmere Winfield, Michael Wright, Patricia Adams, Elaine Taylor, Hugh Rollocks, Dini Clark, Tom Collyer, Norma McLaughlin, Evelyn Hall, Oliver Gibson, Alfred Hill
Design/Creative: Frederick Wilkerson, Voice Coach. David Amram, Music & Songs. Mike Curry, Costumes/Setting/Lighting
Stage Management: Ernest Downing, Stage Manager
THREE ONE ACT PLAYS written and directed by students in Owen Dodson’s "Playwriting 157" classes in playwriting and directing. (The class title is inspired by Workshop 147 playwriting class founded at Harvard University by George Baker and run for 30 years through 1924)
BRADFORD KLINE written by Edmond Jenkins
Directed by Geraldine Butler. Designed by Edward Washington
THE HAPPY MEDIUM written by Jeanne English
Directed by Theodis Shine. Designed by Edward Hall
SHO IS HOT IN THE COTTON PATCH written by Theodis Shine
Directed by Roxie Roker. Designed by Theodis Shine
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 17 May 1952. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1952-05-17/ed-1/seq-11/
THE LOTTERY – a one act Opera. Libretto and music by music/playwriting student David Flodin
Directed by Owen Dodson
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Date: May 1952
Design/Creative: Kermit K. Keith, Set Designer. Frederick Wilkerson, Music & singers Director
Fine Arts Festival Play
The LOTTERY was extremely successful and the Arena Stage of Washington, D.C. asked us to perform the opera at a special performance May 19, 1952, at the Arena Stage. The concert version of THE LOTTERY was performed at Catholic University may 22, 1952 for the Student Symposium between American, Catholic, Howard, and Peabody Universities
1950/1951 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
1950/1951 - Anne M. Cooke, Head of Department of Drama
Dean: J. St. Clair Price, College of Liberal Arts
Department of Drama is in the Division of Humanities
Major/Minor: B.A. in Drama
Howard Players: ?
Faculty:
Professor - Anne M. Cooke
Associate Professor - Owen V. Dodson
Assistant Professor - James W. Butcher
Instructor - none
Staff: none indicated
Drama is removed from the Department of English.
May 2, 1950 Drama is established as the Department of Drama in the College of Liberal Arts.
Above: Letter of creation of Department of Drama May 2, 1950. Division of Fine Arts display case. Accessed May 2018.
Spring 1951 - First four graduates of the Department of Drama
Howard University, "The Bison: 1951" (1951). Howard University Yearbooks. 120. https://dh.howard.edu/bison_yearbooks/120 (All photos)
Summer 1950 - Howard University Summer Theatre
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 03 July 1950. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1950-07-03/ed-1/seq-25/
To Left: Howard Players 1950's. Photo credit: Moorland Spingarn Research Center
1950 Howard University Bison yearbook
Fall Semester 1950 (no season theme)
THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR by Nicolai Gogol
Directed by James W. Butcher
Date: Dec. 9, 1950
Produced in The Lewisburg High School Auditorium Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Bucknell University Chapter of the NAACP presents the Howard Players
Cast: Charles White, Agnes McRea, Karlen McAlpin, Ernest Jackson, Angela Marchena, Stewart Street, Harry Baxter, Edward Washington, George Johnson, William Brown, Edward Hall, Herb Davis, Edmere Winfield, David Eaton, Martha Carr, William Bondhill, Herman Robinson, Buns Forsythe, Beth Nelson, Roxie Roker
Spring Semester 1951 (no season theme)
CROSS PURPOSE written by Albert Camus (American premiere)
Directed & designed by Owen Dodson
Date: Jan. 22-27, 1951
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Cast: Herb Davis, Roxie Roker, Agnes McRae, james W. Butcher (faculty), Frances Thornton, Irby Davis
Design: Martha Carr, Costumes. William Bondhill & Ernest Downing, Lighting.
Stage Management: Herb Davis, Stage Manager. Carolyn Hicks, Assistant Stage Manager.
BLITHE SPIRIT written by Noel Coward
Directed by Anne Cooke
Date: March 5-10, 1951
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
PELLEAS AND MELISANDE written by Maurice Maeterlinck
For Festival of Fine Arts
Directed by Owen Dodson
Produced in Spaulding Hall Little Theatre
Date: April 30-May 8, 1951
Cast: Frederick Wilkerson, Angela Marchena, Normand Fitz, Edmond Jenkins, Marilyn Thornton, Avery McRae, Wilveria Bass, Edward Washington, Ernest Downing, Robert Lawson, Geraldine Butler, Gloria Toote, Agnes McRae, Roxie Roker, Gollen Carmichael, Mady Vines, Lillian Goode, Alfreda Elkins
Design: William T. Brown, Set Design. Martha Carr, Costumes. James W. Butcher, Lighting. David Amram, Score.
Stage Management: Edward Washington, Stage Manager. Colleen Carmichael, Assistant Stage Manager
Collection, Channing Pollock, "Howard University Festival of Fine Arts, 1951" (1951). Theatre Programs. 24.
https://dh.howard.edu/africana_theatre/24
https://dh.howard.edu/africana_theatre/24
Moorland Spingarn Archives. Accessed July 2022
First Brochure for the Department of Drama
CLICK HERE to review 1950 -1940 Theatrical Production History
Please note, this research site is not a comprehensive report on all Department of Theatre Arts performance/workshop/symposia/masterclass presentations. Nor is it comprehensive for all Howard Players performance presentations. Nor is this a comprehensive report on the Dance area performance/workshop/masterclass presentations. The research continues.
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