Entry by Elian Ortiz: Published script of The Black Doctor: A Romantic Drama in Four Acts, adapted into English by Ira Aldridge

This is a cover of the famous melodramatic play, “The black Doctor”. In the cover we can see The Black Doctor (Fabian), with Pauline, his love interest. The image is entirely inspired by the set description in scene 4, Act 1. In the scene, Fabian and Pauline have taken a rather strange path, a place with no people, because Pauline couldn’t be risked to be seen with a Black man; even if nothing was taking place. The image shows them standing on top of rocks near the sea, a very dangerous place to be walking. Thus, Pauline is estranged and scared to be walking through there, but Fabian is confident in going the way. Which is why Fabian is portrayed in hero pose, while holding Pauline who is kind of a lady in distress in that moment. Given the fact that the play is a melodrama, the scene is overdramatised in the cover, since Pauline isn’t deeply scared of the way, nor is Fabian a true hero that saves her from anything. In the cover, we also have the cast, labeled “Dramatis Personae”. In this, we can see that for this production Fabian was being portrayed by Ira Aldridge, who also created this adaptation of the play. I believe this is a very good cover. It has a very detailed and beautiful drawing of the scene, giving a good sense of the play and its content.

Author: Elian Ortiz