THEODORE WARD (1902 - 1983)
| Nationality: | African-American |
| Literary Agent: *: | |
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Plays by Theodore Ward
Bell and the Light, The |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1962 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 2 act Historical Musical | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 9 BM, 11 BF, 4 WM, 2 WF, extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Slaves, including the colonel's own mulatto daughter, depend upon the colonel for their "good" treatment, but when the chips are down, they discover that they must be free and save themselves. | ||||
Big Money |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1961 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 2 act Musical Comedy | Musical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 15 BM, 5 BF, 8 WM, 1 WF, extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Thunderbird suddenly gets $85,000 and all his friends want to help him spend it, but the police interfere | ||||
Big White Fog |
| 1st Produced: | Great Northern Theatre, Chicago, Ill | 1938 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Black Theater USA, ed. by James V. Hatch and Ted Shine, New York: Free Pr | 1974 | ||
| Genre: | 3 act Domestic Drama | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 6 BM, 6 BF, 4 BC, 2 WM, extras | |||
Synopsis: Victor Mason, husband, father, and Garveyite (follower of Marcus Garvey) fights to keep his dream alive while his family and the world fall down around him. | ||||
Candle in the Wind |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1966 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 4 act Historical Protest | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 10 BM, 3 BF, 18 WM (doubling | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Charles Caldwell, black senator from the state of Mississippi, 1875, fights to keep a black and white coalition in power and is killed for it | ||||
Charity |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1960 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 3 act Historical Musical | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 4 BM, 5 BF, 10 WM, 3 WF, extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: This is the true story of the Negro musician, Blind Tom, and how he was exploited. | ||||
Daubers, The |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1953 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in Childress, Black Scenes (one scene) | - | ||
| Genre: | 3 Act | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 3 BM, 6 BF, 1 WM, 1 WF | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A middle class black family, in its efforts to achieve political power and property, loses its daughter to drug addiction. | ||||
Deliver The Goods |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1941 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 3 act Historical Drama | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 2 BM, 18 WM, 6 WF (doubling). | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: First National Defense Play for World War II defense effort. It shows the struggle of longshoremen against fascists and corrupt bosses while trying to support the army overseas | ||||
Even The Dead Rise |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1938 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | Historical Mythic Drama | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 8 BM, 4 BF, 2 WM, extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: The black revolutionaries of the past refuse to lie quietly in their graves until justice is done | ||||
Falcon Of Adowa |
| 1st Produced: | Chicago, III | 1938 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Set during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia; Gugsa, a collaborator, is executed by the Italians when he defects and calls for Abyssinian unity and loyalty to Haile Selassie | ||||
John Brown |
| 1st Produced: | People's Drama, New York | 1950 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Act I, scene II, Masses and Mainstream, Oct. 1949 | 1949 | ||
| Genre: | Historical Political Drama | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: See also Of Human Grandeur | ||||
Synopsis: - | ||||
John de Conqueror |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1953 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 2 act Folk Opera | Play with Music | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 9 BM, 4 BF, 3 WM, extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Warrior and leader, John de Conqueror, leads his people into the sea rather than submit to white slavery | ||||
Madison |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1956 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 2 act Historical Musical | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 7 BM, 5 BF, 4 WM, extras | |||
Notes: Adapted from Frederick Douglass' short story, "The Heroic Slave" (1853). | ||||
Synopsis: Slaves being taken from Richmond to New Orleans on the S.S. Creole seize control through leadership of Madison and sail to Nassau and freedom. Subtitled: Creole | ||||
Of Human Grandeur |
| 1st Produced: | As John Brown, People's Drama, New York | 1950 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 4 act Historical Political Drama | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 7 BM, 1 BF, 20 WM, 2 WF (doubling) | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: The story of John Brown from 1835 until his execution. | ||||
Our Lan' |
| 1st Produced: | Henry Street Settlement Playhouse, NY | 1946 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Black Drama in America, ed. by Darwin T. Turner, Greenwich: Fawcett (also in Theatre Arts 31, June 1947): 51 | 1971 | ||
| Genre: | 2 act Historical Drama | Historical | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 13 BM, 7 BF, 6 WM, 1 WF, BC | |||
Notes: written 1941-1946 | ||||
Synopsis: . A band of freed slaves receives a Georgia island from General William Tecumseh Sherman to raise crops, build a school and community; they are later told by the federal government to leave; they refuse | ||||
Shout Hallelujah |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1941 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | 3 Act | Tragedy | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 11 BM, 5 BF, 2 WM | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Young Sammy, talented musician, stands a chance to escape West Virginia mines, but discovers that his mother is a prostitute and kills himself | ||||
Sick and Tired (Sick and Tiahd). |
| 1st Produced: | np., 1938; revised version, 1964 | 1938 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | Historical Drama | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 2 BM, 1 BF, 3 BC, 1 WB | |||
Notes: Received second prize in city-wide contest sponsored by the New Theatre League, Chicago, Ill | ||||
Synopsis: A black man goes to a commissary where a white man tries to cheat him and a scuffle follows; the white man falls on a plow and is killed. The black man refuses to run because he is sick and "tiahd" of white folks | ||||
Throwback |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1952 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | Folk Protest | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 1 BM, 2 BF, 1 WM, child | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A black man kills a white mill owner for messing with his wife | ||||
Whole Hog or Nothing |
| 1st Produced: | - | 1952 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| Genre: | Drama | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 5 BM,11 WM | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A group of black American servicemen fighting in World War II fight white racism in New Guinea as well and win | ||||