''The Chip Woman's Fortune'' is a 1923 one act play written by American playwright

Willis Richardson Willis Richardson (November 5, 1889 – November 7, 1977) was an American playwright. Biography Willis Richardson was born on November 5, 1889 in Wilmington, North Carolina, a son of Willis Wilder and Agnes Ann (Harper) Richardson. His fami ...

. The play was produced by The

Ethiopian Art Theatre The Ethiopian Art Theatre — originally called the Chicago Folk Theatre, later the Colored Folk Theatre, also referred to as The Ethiopian Art Players — was an African American theatre company based out of Chicago, Illinois. The company was an i ...

and is historically important as the first serious work by an African American playwright to be presented on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Although Broadway had seen African American

musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

and

revues A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

, it had never seen a serious drama.

Characters

''Emma:'' Liza's daughter, 18 and beautiful ''Liza:'' Mother of Emma, struggling with her health ''Aunt Nancy:'' The “chip woman” who lives with Liza's family in their home ''Silas:'' Husband of Liza ''Jim:'' Son of Aunt Nancy

Synopsis

The play opens with Liza not feeling well and being taken care of by Aunt Nancy. Emma enters and is chastised by Liza for wearing makeup. Both Emma and Liza agree that Aunt Nancy has been a very helpful presence in the home, especially for Liza’s health. Liza explains to Emma that the Victrola has left the family in debt, and that Silas has been furloughed for a couple of days. With the family already being extremely poor, and men coming to gather the debt any minute, Liza suspects that Silas will need to put Aunt Nancy out of the house, because she does not pay rent. Silas enters the home and explains how he suspects Aunt Nancy secretly has a fortune that she keeps buried in the backyard. He wants to either ask her for the money or kick her out. Aunt Nancy re-enters and confesses that she is keeping money in the backyard to save for her son, who got out of jail that day and will be appearing at the house any minute. Jim enters and gives Silas fifteen dollars. He then proceeds to give half the money Aunt Nancy has saved for him to Silas. Silas repays his debts, and Aunt Nancy and Jim exit.

Reviews

''The Chip Woman's Fortune'' is noted for its simplicity. None of the characters are over glorified or overdone. Bernard Peterson quotes from the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

review, "''The Chip Woman’s Fortune…''is an unaffected and wholly convincing transcript of everyday character. No one is tricked out of pleasure; no one is blackened to serve as a 'dramatic' contrast. I am referring, of course, to points of essential character, not to that matter of walnut stain." W.E.B DuBois wrote in ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

'', "The Negro Drama in America took another step forward when The Ethiopian Art Players under Raymond O'Neil, came to Broadway, New York. Financially the experiment was a failure; but dramatically and spiritually it was one of the greatest successes this country as ever seen."

Willis Richardson's Legacy

Noted as one of the most important

playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

for the African American community. In a review of the biography ''Willis Richardson, Forgotten Pioneer of African-American Drama'' (1999), by Christine Raucous Gray, N. Graham Nesmith writes:

In this essay, "The Hope of A Negro Drama”, Richardson stresses "that the plays written by African Americans should focus on the black community and not on racial tension and differences". He goes on to state that most of his plays would be "drawn for the most part from folk tradition, they should center on black conflicts within the black community."

On December 13, 1922, Richardson sent a letter to

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, stating "Negro drama has been, next to my wife and children”, the very hope of my life. I shall do all within my power to advance it.” During these formative years of black drama, Richardson exerted his energies towards promoting and perfecting his craft. He was posthumously honored as "Outstanding Pioneer" in black Theatre by

AUDELCO AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv awa ...

, Audience Development Committee, which promotes black theatre in New York City.Gray, Christine Rauchfuss. ''Willis Richardson, Forgotten Pioneer of African-American Drama''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. p. 27.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chip Women's Fortune 1923 plays African-American plays