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Historical Background, Dramaturgy, and Design

Photo of Ebony Wimbs, Jerod Haynes, and Felicia P. Fields by Michael Brosilow.

Explore the historical context of Seven Guitars and the dramaturgy underpinning Court Theatre’s production.

Historical Background

Dramaturgy

A complex of multiple brick buildings, photographed in black and white.
The Tuberculosis Hospital of Pittsburgh, pictured here in 1915, is the real-life sanitarium that Hedley wishes to avoid. Image by Pittsburgh (Pa.). City Photographer, Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, 1901-2000; July 12, 1915. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=G9JS.
Queen Esther wears a heavily embellished gown and stands in front of a column.
Philips Galle after Maarten van Heemskerck, “Esther Holding a Scepter and an Open Book,” circa 1560, engraving, 8.46 × 9.65 in., British Museum, London, 1949,0709.29 https://visit.ncartmuseum.org/18149/21728.
An elegant dark-skinned Black woman wearing a mint-green dress and tall jeweled crown and holding a scepter.
An illustration of the Queen of Sheba from a Medieval manuscript, Bellifortis, by Conrad Kyeser c. 1405. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/who-is-the-queen-of-sheba-in-the-bible/.
A large brick building with bare trees in front of it, photographed in color.
An exterior view of the former Tuberculosis Hospital of Pittsburgh building. Source: Wikimedia Commons Date: 2009. https://hillhistory.org/items/show/5.
The room is full of young Black couples smiling and dancing.
Men and women dancing together in couples, including tall man standing near door on left, in Loendi Club. Image by Charles “Teenie” Harris, © Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh https://collection.carnegieart.org/objects/a97d79d4-9c7a-4384-a06f-258552430dcf.
The exterior of the Loendi Club, a popular spot for nightlife in the Hill District.
Loendi Club, 83 Fullerton Avenue (Fulton Street), Hill District. This club is mentioned in Seven Guitars. Image by Charles “Teenie” Harris © Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh https://collection.carnegieart.org/objects/18bf7efe-7157-4a77-a77b-c14dae5003f7.
A fuzzy photograph of Buddy Bolden wearing a suit and holding his coronet.
Bolden c. 1905 by Anonymous – unknown photographer; from personal collection of trombonist Willie Cornish, loaned for reproduction in book “Jazzmen” in 1938. Via copy at Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Buddy_Bolden_001.png.
A Black man with a slightly off-center part and a soft smile.
Portrait of jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden. Image from https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/buddy-bolden.

Posted on June 3, 2026 in Learning Guides, Productions

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