Blog Posts: Commentary and Images for Every Episode

Cover of Barry Witham's book, A Sustainable Theatre, with an engraving of the Hedgerow Theatre by Wharton EsherickBelow, photo of Jasper Deeter on the stage of the Hedgerow Theatre, in a scene from Susan Glaspel's Inheritors. Arthur Rich and Jasper…

  Paul Robeson, in a photo taken by the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin in February of 1974.   PART ONE: BEGINNINGSBy the time the above photo was taken, Robeson's history in Philadelphia stretched almost fifty years. Below, an ad that …

Above, John Barrymore's oblong grave marker at Mount Vernon Cemetery in North Philadelphia. After many years of being unmarked, the oblong was finally placed there largely due to the efforts of local Barrymore buff Mark Apfel. Below left is a photo …

Above, John McCullough in costume as Virginius from Sheridan Knowles' play. It was a role he had inherited from Edwin Forrest.Below, Alexander Reinagle, in a miniature dated "1804" by the painter Robert Field in the collection of the Yale Universi…

To accompany our conversation with Jonathan Shandell and Jerrell Henderson, here are some of the images from Federal Theatre Project archives relating to the shows that we discuss in the episode:Jericho  (including rare production photographs o…

Above: Mary B. Robinson in 1994.Below: Jack Stehlin (Oberon), embraces Titania (Gloria Biegler) as the Fairies look on.  "A Midsummer Night's Dream", directed by Mary B. Robinson, was staged by the Philadelphia Drama Guild at the Zellerbach …

Above is the Ida B Siddons Female Mastodons and Burlesque Company poster, described in the episode. After I posted the image on Twitter last year, the scholar Dr. Susan Kattwinkel replied and gave me some more information about it. Apparently t…

Above, John A. Arneaux, in a photo printed in the pages of his privately published edition of Shakespeare's Historical Tragedy of Richard III: Adapted for Amateurs And the Drawing Room.  It is quite similar to the Edwin Booth acting version, bu…

As additional information about John Arneaux, here is the sheet music for his song "Jumbo the Elephant King". It is in the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington DC. (Arneaux appears to have written at least two other songs, "You Had Be…

Above, Illustration of Edwin Booth as Richard, in an engraving published in Booth's own acting edition of the play in 1872. Edwin Booth first played the Academy of Music in the role of Richard III on August 24th 1863 . The productio…