doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee



Theodore Ward

THEODORE WARD  (1902 - 1983)

Nationality:    African American
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Elise Virginia Ward  


James Theodore Ward was born 15 Sep 1902. He was an African-American author and playwright. From Thibodaux, La. he was one of eleven children from the family of John Ward and Louise Pierre Ward. Young Ward wrote a play as a child though his father was non-supportive. In 1936, he won second prize in a writing competition for his one-act presentation Sick 'n Tiahd. This led to his acquaintance with Richard Wright the man who won first prize. Through Wright, Ward joined the Chicago Writers Workshop of the WPA Federal Theatre, where he wrote a critical piece for Big White Fog, a production about the Garvey Movement. When the WPA ended, Ward brought the play to New York where it became the first production of the Negro Playwrights Company. In 1947 Our Lan, Ward's play about the Reconstruction South was moved from a successful run at the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse to Broadway's Royale Theatre. The play ran on Broadway for 42 performances before it closed. In 1949, Ward became the first Black dramatist to be awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship enabling him to write a play about the abolitionist John Brown. The play was later produced in Chicago at the Skyloft Theatre in 1951. His play, The Daubers, was produced in Chicago in 1969. Over his lifetime, Ward wrote more than 30theatrical productions, essays, poetry and pieces of two folk operas. James Theodore Ward lived and worked in Chicago from 1968 until his death in 1983.

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of Theodore Ward's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

Bell and the Light, The         Big Money         Big White Fog         Candle in the Wind         Charity         Daubers, The         Deliver The Goods         Even The Dead Rise         Falcon Of Adowa         John Brown         John de Conqueror         Madison         Of Human Grandeur         Our Lan'         Shout Hallelujah         Sick and Tired (Sick and Tiahd)         Throwback         Whole Hog or Nothing



Bell and the Light, The

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.

Notes:
Music by Irving Schlein

1st Produced:
-    1962

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Historical Musical Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  9 BM, 11 BF, 4 WM, 2 WF, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Big Money

Synopsis:
Thunderbird suddenly gets $85,000 and all his friends want to help him spend it, but the police interfere

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1961

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Musical Comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  15 BM, 5 BF, 8 WM, 1 WF, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Big White Fog

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.

Notes:

1st Produced:
Great Northern Theatre, Chicago, Ill    Apr 1938

Organisations:
Negro Unit

1st Published:
Black Theater USA, ed. by James V. Hatch and Ted Shine, New York: Free Pr, 1974   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 act Domestic Drama Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  6 BM, 6 BF, 4 BC, 2 WM, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Candle in the Wind

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

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1966

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
4 act Historical Protest Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  10 BM, 3 BF, 18 WM (doubling

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Charity

Synopsis:
This is the true story of the Negro musician, Blind Tom, and how he was exploited.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1960

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 act Historical Musical Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4 BM, 5 BF, 10 WM, 3 WF, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Daubers, The

Synopsis:
A middle class black family, in its efforts to achieve political power and property, loses its daughter to drug addiction.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1953

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Childress, Black Scenes (one scene),    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 Act Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  3 BM, 6 BF, 1 WM, 1 WF

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Deliver The Goods

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

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1941

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 act Historical Drama Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 BM, 18 WM, 6 WF (doubling).

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Even The Dead Rise

Synopsis:
The black revolutionaries of the past refuse to lie quietly in their graves until justice is done

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1938

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Mythic Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  8 BM, 4 BF, 2 WM, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Falcon Of Adowa

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

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Chicago, III    1938

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

John Brown

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
See Also Of Human Grandeur

1st Produced:
People's Drama, New York    1950

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Act I, scene II, Masses and Mainstream, Oct. 1949, 1949   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Political Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

John de Conqueror

Synopsis:
Warrior and leader, John de Conqueror, leads his people into the sea rather than submit to white slavery

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1953

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Folk Opera Play with Music

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  9 BM, 4 BF, 3 WM, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Madison

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

Notes:
Adapted from Frederick Douglass' short story, "The Heroic Slave" (1853).

1st Produced:
-    1956

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Historical Musical Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  7 BM, 5 BF, 4 WM, extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Of Human Grandeur

Synopsis:
The story of John Brown from 1835 until his execution.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
As John Brown, People's Drama, New York    1950

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
4 act Historical Political Drama Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  7 BM, 1 BF, 20 WM, 2 WF (doubling)

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Our Lan'

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

Notes:
written 1941-1946

1st Produced:
Henry Street Settlement Playhouse, NY    1946

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Black Drama in America, ed. by Darwin T. Turner, Greenwich: Fawcett (also in Theatre Arts 31, June 1947): 51, 1971   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Historical Drama Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  13 BM, 7 BF, 6 WM, 1 WF, BC

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Shout Hallelujah

Synopsis:
Young Sammy, talented musician, stands a chance to escape West Virginia mines, but discovers that his mother is a prostitute and kills himself

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1941

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 Act Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  11 BM, 5 BF, 2 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Sick and Tired (Sick and Tiahd)

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

Notes:
Received second prize in city-wide contest sponsored by the New Theatre League, Chicago, Ill

1st Produced:
np., 1938; revised version, 1964    1938

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 BM, 1 BF, 3 BC, 1 WB

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Throwback

Synopsis:
A black man kills a white mill owner for messing with his wife

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1952

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Folk Protest One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  1 BM, 2 BF, 1 WM, child

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Whole Hog or Nothing

Synopsis:
A group of black American servicemen fighting in World War II fight white racism in New Guinea as well and win

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1952

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  5 BM,11 WM

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page