Actors dressed in costume for performance of ‘The Song of Hiawatha’
Actors dressed in costume for performance of ‘The Song of Hiawatha’
Return to George W F Ellis Collection 1,522 items
Record No
301828
Title
Actors dressed in costume for performance of ‘The Song of Hiawatha’
Description
Two actors are backstage dressed in costume as characters Minnehaha (left) and Hiawatha (right). This was for a performance at the Royal Albert Hall of ‘The Song of Hiawatha’, a trilogy of cantatas written by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Written between 1898 and 1900, the first part, ‘Hiawatha's Wedding Feast’ was very popular for many years and made Coleridge-Taylor globally famous despite the Black community’s ongoing battle against racism.

Starting in 1924, the trilogy was performed in the Royal Albert Hall with scenery, costumes and dancing. The first of these stagings, likely when this photo was taken, was conducted on 19 May 1924 by the composer's son Hiawatha Coleridge-Taylor. These stagings, often conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent, were presented for two weeks annually until the Second World War and were attended by many thousands of people, including the Royal Family. Singers who appeared in these performances were white despite the character they played being indigenous Americans, often meaning they dressed in ‘redface’ which perpetuates Native American stereotypes, analogous to the wearing of ‘blackface’. Blackface was a way through which White performers demeaned and dehumanised African American people.
Date of execution
1924
Section
London Metropolitan Archives
Collection
George W F Ellis Collection
Artist
Ellis, George W.F. (1900 - 1985)
Medium
photograph
Catalogue No
SC_PHL_CL_02_E1405
London picture map location
Exact
Subjects
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