Six Yale students appear together in a theatrical ensemble portrait, posed in period costumes that evoke eighteenth-century European dress. The De Silva studio, active photographers of Yale and New Haven, Connecticut, produced this albumen silver print on a square-cornered cabinet mount with the imprint "Yale. / A. M. De Silva, / 116 Grove St. / New Haven, Conn." printed on the front recto below the image. The composition and mount style are consistent with the early-to-mid 1880s.

Five figures stand and one is seated at center. The standing figures wear powdered wigs, tricorn hats, velvet coats with decorative buttons and sword props, and a lace-trimmed cravat ensemble at far left. The seated central figure is draped in a long black academic or clerical gown and a curled white wig, with a sheaf of papers resting on a stack of books at the feet. The figure at far right is costumed as a woman, wearing a layered skirt with lace flounces, striped stockings, a feathered hat, and a corset-style bodice, carrying a walking stick.

The cabinet card format was widely used in this era for theatrical portraiture, and this group appears to represent a Yale student dramatic production, likely staged by one of the college's theatrical societies active during the 1880s. The variety of roles depicted, including what appears to be a scholar, soldiers or noblemen, and a comic female character played by a male student, suggests a period farce or collegiate theatrical production documented for distribution or keepsake purposes.

The reverse is blank save for a penciled notation in the lower margin reading "LL81."