It’s Showdown Time

A high-spirited and hilarious comedy of contemporary black life, drawn from Shakespeare’sTaming of the Shrew. Successfully presented both in Philadelphia and by New York’s noted New Federal Theatre. “The characterizations are funky, the performances vigorous and the pacing whirlwind. What a spirit lifter!” —Philadelphia Daily News. “…high-spirited, glad-hearted entertainment.” —NY Times.

Transferring the action from Shakespeare’s Padua to a black neighborhood in Philadelphia, the author retains the main theme of a good but simple man out to tame—and marry—the sharpest-tongued woman in town. In this case the hero is Adam Poindexter, who has come up from South Carolina to open a barber shop, and the unwilling object of his affections is Rosa Richardson, “a quick-tempered, foot-stomping, nigger-hating black woman.” Adam proves his mettle quickly by single-handedly routing a gang of street toughs—but Rosa turns out to be a more difficult conquest. The complications multiply hilariously as the undaunted Adam presses on, much to the consternation of Rosa’s family and friends, including her sexually liberated sister and her “church-a-fied” boyfriend, and a busybody widow who manages the not inconsiderable task of reforming the neighborhood wino. As in its immortal predecessor, delightful use is made of revealing soliloquies and asides and, as before, all ends happily in a burst of exuberant and rollicking high spirits.