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Joseph A. Walker's award-winning play The River Niger was produced in 1972 by the groundbreaking Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). NEC cofounder Robert Hooks, an actor, producer, and activist, had met actor and playwright Douglas Turner Ward while they were performing in a 1960 touring production of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun. Together, they envisioned a theater company that would nurture and showcase the work of Black theater professionals. Since NEC's founding in 1967, its workshops and performances have given Black playwrights, including Walker, a forum for their compelling stories.