River Niger, The

River Niger, The (1973), a play by Joseph A. Walker. [Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 280 perf.; Tony Award.] The African‐American father Johnny Williams ( Douglas Turner Ward) is a housepainter by profession and a poet by avocation but seems to have failed as both. He lives in Harlem with his no‐nonsense wife ( Roxie Roker) and inebriated mother ( Frances Foster), but his pride and joy is his son Jeff ( Les Roberts) who has become an officer in the air force. When Jeff returns home and tells his father he is giving up on a military career, Johnny goes on a bender. He writes a long poem that attempts to find meaning in the whole of the black experience just as the police surround the house, looking for Jeff's old gang who have killed a cop. In the melee, Johnny confesses that he shot the officer so that the innocent Jeff will have a future. Originally produced Off Broadway, the play later moved to Broadway where it marked a triumph for Ward who directed and starred in his Negro Ensemble Company's production.