Guide to the Theodore Browne papers, 1936-1941Theodore Browne C0225Published by George Mason University Libraries Contact Information:Fenwick Library (2FL) George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444 USA Phone: (703) 993-2220 Fax: (703) 993-8911 Email: speccoll@gmu.edu URL: http://sca.gmu.edu
Biographical InformationTheodore Browne was born in Suffolk, Virginia, around 1910. He was a playwright, actor, and director in the Federal Theatre Project. In Seattle, Washington, he worked with the Civic Repertory Theatre, a community theater group that would become the Seattle Negro Unit of the Works Progress Administration in 1936. The unit produced four plays written by Browne including Lysistrata of Aristophanes, A Black Woman called Moses, Swing, and Natural Man. The adaptation of Lysistrata included changing the location of the play from Greece to Ethiopia. The play was performed to a full house, but only once. The head of the Works Progress Administration in Seattle, Don Abel, declared the play bawdy and indecent and stopped future performances. Hallie Flanagan, the national director of the Federal Theatre Project, sent her assistant Howard Miller to take care of the situation. Miller did not resurrect the play but came to a compromise with Abel that would allow the FTP in Seattle to have full control over future productions. Browne left Seattle to join the American Negro Theatre in 1940 where he led the production of Natural Man at the 135th St. Library Theatre in Harlem. He went on to receive degrees from the City College of New York in 1941 and from Northeastern University in Boston in 1944. Browne stayed in Boston after World War II where he taught and lectured. He died in Boston at the age of 68. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and ContentPapers from Theodore Browne, playwright, actor, and director who worked with the Federal Theatre Project in Seattle, Washington. Contents include playscripts, programs, and newspaper clippings, as well as a scrapbook with materials collected by Browne from 1936 to 1941. Return to the Table of Contents ArrangementPapers are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsThere are no access restrictions. Access RestrictionsThere are no access restrictions. Use RestrictionsThere are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Theodore Browne papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries. Return to the Table of Contents Related MaterialThe Works Progress Administration oral histories collection, the Federal Theatre Project collection, the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, as well as numerous other personal papers. Return to the Table of Contents Index Terms
Corporate Names:Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
Subjects:Theater--United States.
Theater--Washington (State)--Seattle.
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred CitationTheodore Browne papers, C0225, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries. Acquisition InformationDonated by Theodore Browne on October 22, 1975. Processing InformationProcessed and EAD completed by Greta Kuriger Suiter in September 2012. Return to the Table of Contents Contents List
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